


Gather All Our Ghosts

by olddarkmachine



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Action/Adventure, Curses, Kitsune, M/M, Mild Gore, Slow Burn, Tengu, What else is new, inugami - Freeform, oh my, shiro is cursed keith is tryna save him ya know, welcome to my sheith reverse bang yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-01 12:39:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15143273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olddarkmachine/pseuds/olddarkmachine
Summary: “Who are you!” Shiro cried ignoring the cascading shadows as they raced towards him, no longer confined by the unseen forces that held them back.I have to know.A faint light pricked the blanket of darkness, its edges feathering outward as it began to brighten and grow around the stranger. Even from where he stood, he could feel the soft brush of its warmth against his skin.“Shiro,” the man said again, voicing echoing the desperation that had muddled his insides as the light reached its burning point. It blinded him, stealing his sight before he could use the illumination to catch a glimpse at his protector.“Find me.”Who are you?And then, everything went white.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my RBB! Shoutout to Kai for letting me bring this idea to life and for the artwork that is REALLY AWESOME AND YOU GUYS JUST AREN’T READY FOR. The plan is to update this every few days or so, so keep an eye out!
> 
> Title is from [Boston by Dermot Kennedy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4nIc2I1y8I)

The eyes were purple.

In fact, they were the kind of deep, swirling color caught somewhere between polished amethyst and the endless stretch of night sky punctuated by stars and lightning. They were something precious in the otherwise dark landscape that spread out across him with a suffocating weight.

Right there, punctuating the blackness, they were a glimmer of everything he could want.

Those eyes felt like home.

Watching him now from the edge of the darkness, they were filled with fire and longing and unabashed want.

“Who are you?” Shiro asked, limbs held down by the oppressive black that kept him trapped incredibly close and yet all too far from the heated stare. Fire burned at the edges of his nerves, setting them ablaze with a thrum that yearned to touch.

Silence met his question as the gaze tracked the length of his body, sending a cooling thrill down his spine that battered against the open flames charring his skin with equal parts need. It quelled the biting sting of fear that always chased him through the dreamscape before the arrival of the protective stare.

It was something he could always count on. The acidic burn of fear that made his heart race and breath quicken as his lungs ached for more air that he could never quite manage, and then the cooling rush when amethyst cut through all the black.

With a sudden jerk, Shiro pulled against the invisible tethers that kept him rooted in spot.

“Please,” he breathed the single word, the hush of it carrying in the space between them as he pushed forward. Shadows seethed around him in tumultuous waves, roiling against itself as it tested the edges of the distance. Inky tendrils reached out slowly, licking the ground at his feet before snapping back as if met by a force he couldn’t see.

“I have to know,” he tried again, voice breaking in desperation as he tried to swallow down the choking stone that had built up in the base of his throat. “Who are you?”

The gem toned gaze held his across the darkness, boring straight to his core as if contemplating finally answering his pleas. 

 _Please_ , he jerked against the hold gripping into the meat of his arms.  _I need to know_.

_Who are you?_

A strike of heat lightning split the middle of his chest as the air surrounding him thickened with the captivating stare that he had found solace in. Deep within the brightness, nestled between the onyx and mauve, he could see hope. Could see a future he had come to think of as lost to him, and every dream that had faded from his grasp, and he just needed to know who they belonged to.

He needed to know who would lead him home.

A loud crack shattered the expansive silence that had settled into his bones, catching him off guard as he looked away to find the source of the sound, only to be met with the onward rush of swirling darkness.

“Shiro.” His name was wrapped with a husky tone as it cut across the space. It left a burr of bright familiarity that buried itself between his ribs and all too close to his heart.

He knew that voice.

And yet, he didn’t.

“Who are you!” Shiro cried ignoring the cascading shadows as they raced towards him, no longer confined by the unseen forces that held them back. 

_I have to know._

A faint light pricked the blanket of darkness, its edges feathering outward as it began to brighten and grow around the stranger. Even from where he stood, he could feel the soft brush of its warmth against his skin.

“Shiro,” the man said again, voicing echoing the desperation that had muddled his insides as the light reached its burning point. It blinded him, stealing his sight before he could use the illumination to catch a glimpse at his protector.

“Find me.”

_Who are you?_

And then, everything went white.

***

Cool air ripped a hole in his chest as Shiro bolted from the thin pallet that separated his body from the hardened earth. A single drop of sweat rolled down his temple as he breathed through the racing of his heart, steadying himself as his eyes charted his surroundings quickly to find himself safely in the forest he had fallen asleep in.

The soft sound of alternating snores battled with the loud beat of his pulse that filled the otherwise silent clearing. Flicking his gaze sideways to the two offenders, he took stock of his companions that still lay peacefully asleep. Breathing steadily, unbothered and untouched by the darkness that plagued him, Lance and Hunk looked every bit of peaceful that he hadn’t known in quite some time.

Or ever, possibly.

It had been just over a year since he’d been found wandering through a forest much like this one by the forest’s keeper, Allura. The high tengu had questioned him mercilessly, demanding to know what the inugami was doing in her forest, only to be perplexed by his lack of memories. All Shiro had was his name, a blackened curse staining the skin of his right arm, and a flowered mark that stood just over his heart.

 _You’re dying_ , she’d said lowly, as if softening her voice would lessen the blow.

Worst yet, she said it as if he didn’t already know. The darkness had painted his hand an inky black, and had been slowly easing itself upwards, eating away at his unmarked flesh with singleminded determination. It was an unnatural black that was threaded with a pulsing purple with a life all its own, and it ached deep within the bone. Some days it was manageable, but others it left him pining for the quiet fold of death if only for some relief.

 _Do you know who did this to you?_  Allura had followed up, running her sharpened nails along the black skin, feeling the coolness of the infection compared to the warmth of his untouched arm. 

 _No_ , he’d pushed between his gritted teeth as sweat had prickled his forehead with the exertion needed to just keep himself awake. It had hurt. 

It had hurt so much.

The rest of that first meeting was a flurry of flashing images and garbled words that had been lost to him as Allura carefully eased him into a fitful sleep that led him deep into the depths of the first nightmare. When he’d awakened, the pain had ebbed, pushed back by a new red mark  etched into his forearm.

 _A charm_ , Allura had explained when she’d caught him staring down at it. To hold back the curse.

 _It will still spread though_ , she had warned before pulling a map from deep within a satchel strung across her chest and between her wings. A sadness had darkened her gaze as she explained that the curse was unlike anything she had ever seen. It was powerful and filled with hate, eating away at his life force as it creeped through his body and up his arm. The charm would slow it, but it was only a matter of time before it spread through his blood and stopped his heart.

 _It’s a cruel curse_ , she’d said sadly before looking up through her lashes in apology.

Shiro was all too aware of that fact.

 _There is a clan that might be able to help though_ , Allura had offered, handing him a single blade of hope in the form of information. A kitsune clan.

 _The Blade of Marmora._  

Known for their powers in purifications, the fox spirits were highly sought after for cures to such curses as that that was cutting itself through his limb. 

The only problem was no one actually knew where they were. For all the stories that Allura had known about them, they may as well have been a myth. One to give those cursed a last bit of fight before the end. 

Not that Shiro had even been sure that he’d wanted more reason to fight. He was tired, and lost, and it was hard to keep fighting with nothing to fight for.

Then the nightmares had begun.

And  _he_  had shown up.

 _You’ll go?_  Allura had said, shoulders easing with relief when he’d finally come to her with his decision to find the kitsune clan. That relief had been a near infectious thing, filling his chest with the lightness of hope for the first time since she’d found him.

Even after introducing him to Lance and Hunk, two lower tengu that would be his companions in his search, he’d never lost the fizzling and cracking feeling that gathered against the bones of his ribs like bubbles.

Of course, that had been long ago, and with each failed lead to find the Blades, the light that beat back the shadows of despair lost its luster, until the only thing holding his head above that inky black were the eyes that haunted his dreams.

_Who are you?_

A loud snort ripped across the clearing and Shiro’s thoughts, snapping his attention back towards the sleeping tengu just in time to see Lance scratch at his stomach as he smacked his lips.

The duo really had been great travel partners. Though they did not hold the same power as Allura, they were well versed in the lands they traveled, able to find any hidden areas that had been left off maps. They’d also proven to be quite good friends that were all too willing to distract him from the predicament of his slow death, but Shiro wasn’t under any illusion as to where their loyalties lay.

Lance was there because Allura had commanded it, and Hunk was there because Lance was.

Shaking his head slowly as Hunk murmured under his breath as he turned and threw and arm across Lance’s chest.

Careful to not make any noise, Shiro pushed himself off his pallet and picked his way over the grass and into the trees. Their camp for the night was at the hidden edge of a mountain, wholly abandoned for what seemed to be centuries if the growth covered ruins were anything to go by.

It was another in a long line of letdowns, but it was at least in a well hidden area near a river.

 _We’ve had worse_ , Lance had said with a shrug before dropping his pack to the ground.

Sighing again, Shiro edged himself closer the the riverbank, only stopping at the water’s edge before he dropped down onto his haunches. Soft ebbs of the river licked at the dirt beneath his feet as he looked down at his rippling reflection.

Silver sluiced across its dark depths as his own eyes stared back quizzically, almost as if they belonged to someone else.

Someone else that wanted to know  _what now?_

What now that his curse had eaten it’s way up to the meat of his bicep, twisting his veins with a blackness that left the prick of sharp nails carving through his arm? Now that they had traveled all over the country in search of a clan that, as far as he could tell, didn’t even exist? Now that if they did find them, it would most likely still be too late?

His own reflection was almost accusatory now as it stared back at him.

_What now?_

Growling angrily, Shiro shoved his untouched hand into the cool water, sending the image break up in crashing waves before he pulled it back, his newly cupped palm full of the clear liquid. The bite of it against his skin freed his mind momentarily of thought as he splashed it against his face, his fingers lingering over the raised scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. 

What now, indeed, he thought as he dropped his hand down across the tops of his thighs and let his head fall back. Drawing in a long, steadying breath, he opened his eyes as he let it out towards the treetops swaying above him. As the leaves rustled with the nighttime breeze, he caught glimpses of the starlight that marked the dark sky above them.

Shiro didn’t remember anything from before Allura found him, but he remembered just how much he’d loved the night sky.

Something about it was so soothing, and so reliable. Memories were fleeting, and it was easy for people to come and go, but he knew he could always find the stars above, even when he was trapped in a forest.

When he looked up at them, they almost eased the sense of longing that always turned his thoughts dark along the edges.

Time continued to pass as Shiro breathed, stealing glimpses of the stars as his heart steadied its rhythm until the black that surrounded the pricks of light started to fade into a purple that signaled the rising of the sun.

Heaving himself up from his crouch, life buzzed back through his legs as he picked across the path he’d taken down to the river, not bothering to mask the sound of his steps as sunlight began to cut down through the leaves. If Hunk and Lance weren’t awake yet, they would need to wake soon anyway.

A small smile cracked Shiro’s somber look as he imagined the scowl he’d earn for waking them. The tengu were almost worse about waking than he was.

“Time to wa—” Shiro started as he broke through the tree line, only to be cut off by the complete silence that had filled the clearing.

Two pallets sat abandoned and torn apart where Lance and Hunk had been when he’d left, the sight of it turning his blood cold as he quickly pulled a dagger from the sheath he kept tucked at the small of his back. Gripping it tightly in his fist, he crept closer to the blankets, eyes scanning across the clearing as he knelt just low enough to place a palm against the fabric.

Warmth still clung to the blanket, which meant that whatever had happened, it had happened recently. 

Sweeping another look across the ground, he caught a single scuffed line that bent the grass downward toward a particularly large oak at the edge of the clearing. Knuckles turning white as he gripped the dagger tighter still, Shiro carefully followed the line, tiptoeing towards the tree as he bit a sharpened canine into the meat of his bottom lip.

After a moment’s pause, he quickly made his way around it to see the tengu tied and gag at the foot of the oak.

Muffled sounds escaped his companions as they both looked up at him.

“What’s going on?” Shiro asked as he dropped down to his knees before them, raising his knife to cut into the ropes that stretched across Lance’s chest.

Eyes growing wide, he began to shake his head as his gaze dragged from Shiro to just over his shoulder as Hunk made a loud sound of protest as he nodded his head.

It was the only warning Shiro got before a heavy strike fell across the back of his skull, sending a jolt of electric pain lancing through the base of his skull. Everything tilted on its side as he began to fall, his vision fading to black as he saw both tengu jolt forward as if they might be able to catch him.

A different kind of darkness than that he was plagued with descended upon him quickly and pulled him its weight, leaving him with one final thought before all else was silent.

_What now?_

****************************


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh, by every few days I meant like, MWF lol Excuse me while I cry over baby fox Keith.

The warmth that settled into Shiro’s skin was comforting. It was the kind of weighted heat he’d forgotten, something lost to a life he was sure he must have had once but lay forgotten beneath the twisting shadows that followed him. Rolling out over him, it ushered him towards consciousness slowly, returning his senses one at a time.

First, he felt the soft touch of the blankets that covered his frame and the cushion of a thick feathery pillow beneath his head.

Second, he caught the lilting waft of spices and herbs that turned the air pleasant with a familiarity that was unknown to him.

Third, he heard the quiet hush of a haven that was unlike anything he’d grown accustomed to during their travels. In the forests they’d frequented, there were always sounds to hear, but here there was nothing but the comforting brush of silence.

Finally, Shiro broke through the darkness as his eyelids fluttered, the flickering brilliance of candlelight momentarily blinding him as his vision adjusted to the yellow light that bathed the room.

There had been many things he’d expected for when he’d finally wakened, but the cozy room had not been one of them at all.

The ivory walls were sparse, accented by line of cherry oak that rode the junctures of the walls and ceilings. Adjacent from where he lay was an inconspicuous sliding door, its existence only betrayed by the way lamplight turned its paper slightly translucent.

Just beside him on a modest table of dark wood, was the small lamp that filled the room with light. Small stars were cut from the brass, allowing the flickering flame to show through with its dancing brilliance that cast constellations around him.

This wasn’t the room of a captive. It was closer to that of a welcomed guest. The realization of that much only served to tinge his thoughts a murky shade of confusion as he let his eyes wander over the space.

In all his experience with the world, Shiro knew people that resorted to surprise attacks generally favored dungeons and barred cells, not warm rooms and thick, feathery beds.

Carefully, Shiro pushed himself upwards, testing the limitations of the throb he was becoming all too aware of at the base of his skull. The comforting warmth remained clinging to his skin as the blanket fell from his shoulders and pooled in his lap. Looking down, he saw the stretch of his white silk top still secured to his frame.

Something a lot like relief rushed through him as he stared down at the untouched fabric, his own touch tentative as he ran his fingers just over his heart. Shiro bore several marks on his skin between scars and charms, all that he wore proudly for all to see, but the one that sat just beneath his touch was one he guarded. Unlike the others, it had marked his flesh since he’d awakened. Nothing more than a simple flowered brand, it had brought him solace as his unknown memories had tugged gently at the edges of his mind each time he traced its curves.

It felt like something secret. Something that was wholly his own.

Seeing it still safe beneath cloth filled him with a small sense of ease as he rolled his shoulders against the tension that had settled between them. A sharp spark pierced at the ball of his shoulder, sending a shot of pain rocketing down through his cursed arm where it finally settled at his fingertips.

Looking down, he tracked the dark stain of his skin up to where it had slowly flowed past the runes and charms that could no longer hold it back. With its reach flowing beneath the marks and turning them a fatal black, the darkness was stopped just at the peak of his shoulder where a new charm sat. Nothing but red twisting lines, it was a drawn triangular knot with several braids of red line twine, it’s corners pulled out further until they created ovular shapes at its edges. The ink that created its swirling lines held a power he wasn’t used to as he felt the weight of it bearing down on his shoulder as it held the curse at bay.

This kind of power was sacred, and strong. Much stronger than any he’d ever found on his travels or even that of Allura’s magic. Curling his fingers into a fist and slowly unfurling them again, Shiro watched the way the tendons beneath his blackened skin moved and how his veins glowed faintly with a sickly purple light.

There was only one explanation for the newly formed mark.

“Marmora,” he breathed into the silence.

With his pulse quickening in his ears, Shiro pushed his legs over the side of the bed and stood, making sure to press the blanket back into place before he made his way towards the door. Hope gilded the edges of his thoughts, turning them bright as he quietly made his way into the hall.

The sparseness of the room extended passed the entryway, the creamy white and cherry oak color scheme only disrupted by the circular cut out of a window made bright by the moon that shone through it.

With his room situated at the end of the hallway, he quietly walked toward the one direction he could go. Padding across the smooth wood, Shiro made his way down the silent hall, pulled by an invisible thread of familiarity.

A dull ache burned within his bones as if his very being called out to where he was and led him further into the building. It was so quiet, that if it hadn’t been for the clean bed and lit lamp, he would have thought it was abandoned altogether.

Except, that wasn’t entirely correct.

Ghosts danced at the edges of his mind as he trailed his fingertips over the cool walls. Shiro knew this place would never be left alone. He could feel it within the warm life etched within the wood, and within the feeling of knowing that screamed that this might be home.

It was then, with his fingers splayed across the white, that he heard it.

The distant sound of voices.

They carried like a hushed wind down the corridor, wrapping around him and pulling him forward as he followed the sound. He couldn’t quite make out the words or even make much of a distinction between them other than the fact that one was filled with bass while the other was nothing but a rasp.

A single, cool drop of yearning rolled down his back and drew goosebumps across his flesh as he turned another corner.

Both voices were pitched low, as if they were exchanging secrets. The deeper was filled with authority as it rumbled, carrying statements Shiro couldn’t hear as he eyed the open door that they were coming from. Its companion spoke with fiery fervor as he fought back against whatever it was that was being said.

It was the same kind of fiery emotion that he’d heard before, dipped within the darkness of his dreams.

That voice, was  _his_  voice.

Shiro’s breath caught in his throat as his feet carried him forward, any pretense of stealth lost as he moved toward the disembodied voice that he’d grown to know so well. Closing the distance with long strides, they became clearer leaving his head reeling as he pushed himself across the threshold of the open door.

Neither of the room’s occupants paid him any mind as he stared in open awe, taking in the kitsunes’ fierce expressions that twisted into snarls as they argued. The larger of the two stood almost two feet taller, with shoulders set impossibly wide. Red was painted around his eyes, accenting the yellow of his stare that he kept trained on the younger of two.

Time stalled as Shiro took in the smaller man. With his unruly black waves and piercing purple eyes, he looked like fire incarnate as he continued to sling his words forward with vehemence. Something about a mysterious he that shouldn’t be here. But that didn’t matter. Because it was him.

The man from his dreams.

Even if he hadn’t memorized the exact lilt of his voice, Shiro would have known those gemstone eyes anywhere.

“I found you,” Shiro breathed, his voice barely above a whisper as he gripped at the doorframe to steady himself. A single line of tension ran through the smaller man, his light ears flicking back at the intrusive sound of a stranger before he tore his sharp gaze from the larger kitsune.

His eyes flayed his skin, leaving bone exposed as his mouth turned into an almost feral snarl before he cut his stare back toward his companion.

“He shouldn’t be here,” he growled again before he pushed himself back gracefully, his steps silent as he pushed his way around the table that took over the majority of the room and made his way towards Shiro. As he neared, he could see the way the flickering light of the lanterns danced along the high arch of his cheekbones and the fine point of his nose. That very same light got caught in his hair, twisting the black with a warm orange that cast it with the same glow of an ember.

It was fitting just how much like fire he looked as he stormed up to him.

For just a moment, Shiro half expected him to stop and say something. Anything that might prove he recognized him as well. The hope was a vain one though, as the smaller kitsune continued forward, shoving himself just as forcefully passed him before he started to stalk down the hall.

Turning on his heel, Shiro tracked his retreating back with wide eyes before he swung around a corner and disappeared, leaving him alone with his own confused thoughts and the quiet.

It was him, that much Shiro was sure, but at the same time how could it have been?

The man from his dreams had told him to find him. He knew who Shiro was, and had saved him.

This man didn’t seem to have cared in the slightest.

In fact, Shiro would have gone as far as to say the fox had hated him. So much so, in fact, that his skin still burned from the stare that had bore straight through him.

A weary sigh pulled Shiro back from his quiet introspection as he turned back into the room and towards the larger kistune who was looking him up and down. Something about the way his mouth twisted downward gave him pause as he waited.

It was the same look of someone who wasn’t very happy about what he was witnessing.

Shiro watched as the large man made his way around the table that separated them until he stood at the end before him. Leaning back against it, he crossed his arms over his chest and set his dark ears back as he his expression moved into something solid before he finally spoke.

“I suppose you would like an explanation.”

***

_Keith had been in the forest many times. In fact, it had become one of his favorite places to visit with the other members of his clan since he’d been able to walk with them out to it. He had memorized the different trees that lined the clearing he favored, each with its own quirks._

_The oak, with its one large knot right at his height._

_The cherry blossom, with the cracked line like lightning._

_The ash, with its long limbs that reached out further than the others._

_He had learned the names of each tree before he’d learned that of his clansmen, much to Kolivan’s bemusement. Yet now, in the dead of night, the forest felt different._

_The once gentle quiet felt sinister as the shadows cast by the leaves seemed to reach out to him and threaten to snatch him._

_Keith knew he should have turned back and gone back to the temple, but at just five years of age, he had already cultivated a stubborn streak that rivaled that of the Blades’ head kitsune. Most of the other clansmen liked to joke that Keith must have really been Kolivan’s kit, if only because there was no other explanation for their similar obstinance._

_That very tenaciousness was why he was currently out after his designated bedtime._

No, Keith, for the last time you cannot go see the trees this late _, Regris had sighed as he pushed his small shoulders back down on his soft bed. His eyes were soft with favor as he tried to keep his expression stern before he tugged the blankets up to Keith’s chin._

Please? _He’d said with a pout, knowing it would cause the older kitsune pause. Each member of the clan took turns with tucking Keith in for the night as raising him had been somewhat of a group effort, and Regris had always been one of his favorites. He told stories the best, and he almost always snuck him one more extra sweet before bed._

_Keith also knew he was the one most likely to fall for his special attack that came in the form of large, watery eyes and a quivering lip._

We’ll go first thing in the morning _, Regris said after a long enough pause that had given Keith’s small heart a lift of hope. Sighing with feigned defeat, he had pushed himself further down into his blankets and nodded his head against the Blade’s palm as he brushed it across his hair and ears._

_He’d only waited long enough for Regris’ steps to fade before he bolted upright from his mattress and towards his window._

_At the time he had felt triumphant, if only because he was going to prove to them that he was old enough to be out at night. He was a full five years old after all. But now, as he carefully scanned the forest, trying to match the darkened landscape with that of his daylight memories, he thought maybe the adults had been right._

_It all just felt too big, and too alive as he felt the tickle of a stare raise the hair on the back of his neck. Something was out there, and even though he was young, he was old enough to know he didn’t want to meet it._

_Pushing further forward in what he hoped was the right direction, Keith continued his trek when he heard the sudden sharp snap of a twig to his left._

_“Hello?” He called out, voice small as it was lost to the darkness around him, only to be met but an unsettling silence. The shadowed branches above him started to twist and bow as they stretched down unnaturally towards him._

_“Hello,” a wisp of a voice rasped against the quiet as yellow eyes appeared between two large trees. They watched him carefully, not once looking away as the branches continued to break and crack in an attempt to reach him._

_Keith had been warned about those that dwelled in the darkness. They were kitsune, just like him and his clansmen, but their magic had been tainted by the shadows. Power was what fueled their desires, and the destruction of all that is light._

You must never go alone into the darkness, Keith _, he had been warned so many times._

_He really wished he had listened._

_“What do you want?” He said as he puffed out his chest, hoping that it made him seem larger and stronger as he tried to ignore the goosebumps that lined his forearms._

_“Silly little fox,” the voice mused as the eyes continued to stare. Frozen ice made the sound of it into something rough that seized Keith’s limbs with fear. With his own stare set on the yellowed one before him, he didn’t see the way the shadows at the edge of the clearing had started to seethe and roll across the ground toward his feet._

_“I want you.”_

_Inky tendrils shot out towards Keith and wrapped around his wrist where they twisted, pulling a small whimper from him as he tried to pull his hand back. Cold bit into his skin where the dark spread across it._

_“Let me go!” He cried as he tugged against its hold, his eyes going wide with fear as he saw the glowing eyes moving slowly toward the edge of the clearing and the writhing shadows._

_“Little fox,” the voice crooned as a tapered claw reached out from between the trees._

_Light suddenly ripped through the darkness of the night, turning it bright and sending a pained howl through the air as the yellow eyes dissipated into the luminance that swallowed the clearing. It blinded Keith as he raised an arm to protect his own eyes, barely registering how it was now freed from the shadows that had held it down._

_“Hey!” A voice called through the bright. It was accompanied by a soft palm on his shoulder that was warm and just a shade away from soothing. The white faded back into night as Keith’s vision returned bit by bit to reveal a young inugami before him. His dark ears flicked curiously as his silver eyes stared down at the young kitsune. From what Keith could tell, he didn’t seem to be that much older than him, maybe just a few years, but he exuded an air of quiet calm that eased any tension he’d felt just moments before._

_“Are you okay?” He asked as he offered that same hand toward where Keith sat crouched on the ground. Yes didn’t seem like the right answer as the kitsune looked the strange kit over, feeling as if he shouldn’t feel as okay as he did so suddenly after what had just happened._

_Yet, looking up at his savior, he couldn’t help but feel like everything would be okay._

_Keith had never met anyone else his own age before, only ever surrounded by the older members of the Blades of Marmora. They had told him he was the youngest of their kind in hundreds of years, which made him special, so he’d never questioned the lack of others his age. It just seemed like how things were meant to be._

_For a moment, Keith wondered if that was why he felt the quick jolt of electric excitement that made the inside of his chest feel funny._

_The inugami, in turn, just smiled._

_“Yeah,” he answered finally as he took the offered hand, cocking his head curiously as the strange spark that tickled his fingertips._

_“Good!” The young inugami said as he squeezed Keith’s hand before he started to turn, pulling Keith slightly with him as he started to take hurried strides through the trees. “You shouldn’t be out here at night.”_

_His voice was pleasant and matter-of-fact as he spoke, barely turning his head just enough to throw the words of his shoulder. Even just with the view of his profile, Keith could see the small crescent of his smile as he stepped soundlessly through the woods._

_“There are a lot of scary things out here at night.”_

_“Do you know what that was?” Keith asked quietly, keeping his gaze focused on the older boy before him as the shadowy forest around them melted into different variations of black._

_“Nope,” the boy said, popping the ‘p’ as he paused for just a moment to look back and forth before changing the course of their direction._

_“But I do know nothing good happens in the shadows.” His point was said with a memorized cadence as if he was reciting the warning. Moonlight turned the world a silvery white as they broke through the tree line. The strong lines of the temple stood before them like a waiting guardian and Keith felt himself let go of a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding._

_Coming to a stop just outside the forest, the inugami turned to face Keith fully, his eyes large and reflecting the ethereal light of the moon._

_“So don’t go out alone at night again, okay?” He said, his voice thick with pleading as if he’d known Keith for longer than the mere minutes it had taken to reach the temple again. Eyes squinting slightly, the kitsune looked him over again, trying to find an answer to why the newcomer would care so much, and why he seemed to care that the stranger did._

_“He’s over here!” Regris’ loud voice cut off the affirmation that shaped his mouth as he saw the older kitsune taking long strides toward them. He heard the sound of the rest of the clan as they acknowledged Regris’ words, bright lights from their torches dotting the darkness of the forest as they began to make their way back._

_“I told you we’d go out tomorrow,” he said as he quickly pulled Keith up into his arms, the motion tugging his hand free from the inugami’s hold._

_“I’m sorry,” Keith said quietly as he turned his gaze downward in hopes of avoiding the disappointed look he was getting from his clansmen. “I just really wanted to go.”_

_Tears pricked the edges of his eyes and turned his words watery as Regris hugged him close with a sigh before turning his attention to the other boy beside them._

_“Thank you for protecting him,” he said sincerely with a nod. Keith kept his chin against Regris’ shoulder as he stared down into the grass in an attempt to push the tears back. There was the quiet rustle of movement as the inugami gave his silent welcome before the larger kitsune turned on his heel for the temple._

_With the sudden change of direction, Keith found himself looking at the young inugami, who continued to watch as they started to walk away. It wasn’t until he had begun to shrink with the distance that grew between them before he spoke._

_“What’s your name!” He yelled through cupped hands. Picking up his head quickly Regris paused for him to answer. Raising his own hands around his mouth, he yelled through the halo they created._

_“I’m Keith!”_

_A large arcing smile bent across the inugami’s face._

_“Nice to meet you Keith!” He said before he moved on of his hand down to his chest, closing his fist and pointing a thumb into its center._

_“I’m Shiro!”_

************************


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's the first artwork chapter, y'all! Peep that amazing artwork from the wonderful Kai and cry with me over how good it is. Those colors have me ascending to a whole other level.

_Keith_.

His name was Keith, and something deep within Shiro’s chest cracked with the sound of his name rolling off of the larger man’s tongue when he finally answered the one question he had. It was the only information he seemed willing to share about the smaller kitsune, but it was enough.

Because now Shiro knew his name.

 _Keith_.

“Hey, big guy, aren’t you going to defend our honor or something?” Lance’s voice was loud as it snapped him back to the meeting room that he, his companions, and the apparent Marmora leader now sat in. The tengu shot a cutting glance towards Kolivan as he squinted in what Shiro could only guess was meant to be intimidation.

As it turned out, Hunk and Lance had not been met with the same hospitality that he had as they both found themselves thrown into a cell tucked beneath the main temple. That very fact seemed to have ruffled both of their feathers as they sat side-by-side waiting for Shiro to say something to the kitsune before them.

Though, as far as he could tell, their treatment couldn’t quite be classified as terrible either.

“We were trespassing, Lance,” was all he said as he nodded toward Kolivan to continue as the tengu pushed himself further down in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Shiro didn’t miss the way Hunk gently pat him on the shoulder in a show of silent apology.

“We are sorry for the treatment, young tengu,” Kolivan said as he turned his yellow stare towards Lance. “The Blades have many enemies, and we cannot take the presence of strangers lightly on our land. You must understand that much?”

Lance’s mouth opened around a retort as Hunk cut him off with a quick squeeze of his shoulder as he leant forward.

“We understand,” he said before cutting his dark eyes towards his friend and smiling. “It isn’t the first time we’ve spent a night in a cell. Honestly, we’ve had worse.”

Hunk’s chuckle was light and eased the tension in the room as a collective sigh of relief deflated all members seated around the table. Shiro sent a silent thanks up to the heavens and all the gods that kept the situation from devolving into chaos.

They had come too far to fail now.

“Tell me, Shiro,” Kolivan started as he turned his attention back to him and folded his hands on top of the table before him. “What has brought you and your companions to our temple.”

Straightening his back, Shiro mirrored Kolivan’s posture, ignoring the way his eyes pulled down the the black skin pulled across the top of his hand.

“We’ve come to ask for your help,” he said lamely, noting the leader’s solemn nod at his words.

There were only ever two reasons anyone sought out the Blades, and if it wasn’t for help, it was for destruction.

“The priestess of the Northern Forest found me without memory and with this curse,” he continued, raising his arm unnecessarily as he drew Kolivan’s full attention back down to his hand. “She did what she could but even she is not powerful enough to push away the darkness of the spell.”

Both tengu sat silently as they watched the kitsune nod slowly once more, his cool gaze never leaving Shiro as he pushed his weight into his forearms.

“And you think we can purify the curse.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes,” Shiro affirmed, shifting himself forward in his seat as he swallowed loudly. “I have nothing to give and I know that Blades keep to their own affairs—”

Raising his hand, Kolivan cut him off swiftly. A single line of foreboding made his shoulders tight as he prepared for the inevitable denial of the clan’s help.

“We will help you,” he said instead, his voice low with authority. Quiet confusion fell like a hush over the room as Shiro, Lance and Hunk exchanged quick glances.

“It will take time though,” he continued with warning. “I have my suspicions of who cursed you, and if they are true, you may already be too late. But we will try to help you, Shiro.”

Shiro’s name was wrapped in something soft, a lot like fondness that was much too familiar for having just met. Ears flicking back in curiosity, the inugami eyed Kolivan as he tilted his head to the side in silent question.

“Just like that?” Lance asked incredulously as his head snapped between his companions and the kitsune, eyes wide with bewilderment. Dragging his stare away from Kolivan, Shiro shot a warning glare to Lance who only mouthed a defensive  _what_.

It earned them a chuckle as Kolivan pushed his chair back and slowly stood.

“Yes, young tengu. Just like that,” he said as he looked over the trio before offering an unnecessary explanation. “It is the right thing to do.”

Moving away from the table, the kitsune turned his back to his confused guests as he made his way to the door.

“Shiro, you may travel the grounds as you please. I will be showing your friends to their rooms.”

Hesitating slightly, both tengu turned to Shiro as Kolivan looked over his shoulder at the doorway.

“Unless you prefer the cells,” he said, lips turning up in a half grin. The joke warmed his features as Hunk and Lance balked, jumping up from their seats and falling in line behind him like ducklings.

Shiro listened to their steps fade as they followed Kolivan away from the room until they disappeared entirely, leaving him with the silence of solitude as he sighed. Rolling low into his chair, he turned his eyes upward toward the ceiling, tracing his gaze back and forth over the grain of the wood beams that stretched above him.

It all was just too easy.

Not that he had any right to complain. He knew that Hunk and Lance were tired after so many months of travel, and that they deserved to come upon some sort of luck. Yet all his nerves screamed out at him that something was wrong.

The entire time he had spent with Kolivan, he caught the edges of something the leader held within his knowledge that he did not.

It felt almost as if he knew Shiro already.

Shaking the thoughts from his head quickly, Shiro pushed away from the table. He couldn’t dwell on the things he didn’t know. As it was, the Blades would help them if they could.

If it wasn’t already too late.

All he had to do was wait for that verdict. Sighing again he made his way back to the hallway, following the hall he’d been in earlier until he reached the exit out into the courtyard.

Rolling his neck, he felt the sharp pops of his bones realigning as he rubbed a palm against his nape. The fresh air filled his lungs and cleared his head a bit as he took in the area around him.

Where they were had been the sleeping quarters for the clan, with the main temple off in the distance, and both were surrounded by a thick forest.

Admiring them closely, he began to follow the path that skirted the line of the woods and led away from the secondary house.

There was something calming about the trees that stood guard around the temple, protecting it from the outside world with its strong bark and wide reaching limbs. It brought him a sense of ease and belonging as he continued to follow the slightly worn path, tracking his gaze across the various tree types that stood around him. Shiro and his companions had traveled across the land and seen many forests, but none brought him the same sense of belonging as this one did.

Somehow, it felt like home, which was ridiculous given Shiro didn’t remember enough about a home to feel like he even had one.

But it felt that way all the same.

He painted the tree line with the molten silver of his stare as he tried to etch each strong limb into the impression of his memory.

Kolivan said that the Blades would help him, but he never agreed to let them stay for long, and he wanted to make sure he never forgot the sense of ease that the temple seemed to pull from deep within his bones. It was as if he’d finally found what he had been looking for, trapped within the shadows of the trees.

“You don’t want to go in there alone,” a voice called out, snapping his concentration as he pulled his attention back from the forest. He had strayed quite far from the smaller home that served as the clan’s sleeping quarters and out towards the larger temple meant for prayer and purifications. It stood tall and proud atop a rising hill that sat it overlooking the forest. With its exterior set in contrasting reds and dark wood, it was beautiful and powerful, a true symbol of a safe haven.

And before that, standing like a silent guardian just before the temple’s steps, was a tall, crimson torii gate.

And on top of it, was Keith.

With his knee pulled up into his chest and arms wrapped around his shin, the kitsune rested his chin atop his bent leg as he stared down at him. The earlier heat from his stare had faded into something a bit more tepid, more weary, as he swathed the long line of Shiro’s body in its warmth.

“Is that something you know from experience?” He asked, biting down on the hard syllable of Keith’s name. Everything within him screamed out to the kitsune, wanting to hear his name from the man himself.

The pause from its absence left the question almost open ended as he waited for Keith’s reply.

“You could say something like that,” he finally replied, a barely there grin flicked the corner of his mouth upward. It was a momentary thing, lost almost as quickly as it appeared, but Shiro held onto it as he just took him in.

 _Find me_ , he had said.

Now he had, but he still felt impossibly far away.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Keith continued, filling each space between his words with a double meaning that eluded Shiro.

It sounded almost like the sadness of something lost.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Shiro breathed before he could stop the question. Keith’s eyes hardened at it as he pushed himself upward from his seated position, keeping his hands fisted at his sides in defiance as he stood.

“We don’t welcome strangers here,” he growled through gritted teeth as he looked down the bridge of his nose. Catching the sharp line of his stare, Shiro held it within the pliable metallic of his own, careful to time his breathing just to make sure he kept it up. Moments passed as they held the contact, Keith challenging Shiro to say something.

To say anything.

And Shiro just trying to memorize the exact way the sun lit the strong curves of his face.

A sharp crack echoed through the cavity of his chest as the mark hidden by his clothing flared with a near searing pain.

“But we aren’t strangers, are we?” Shiro managed around his surprised gasp, catching Keith’s eyes going wide before he looked away. Carefully, he rubbed his fingers against the floral mark and the phantom sting that was already gone. “Don’t I know you?”

Amethyst flared as Keith’s fists tightened further at his sides as he sized Shiro up. Mouth opening around silent words, the kitsune’s brows furrowed with indecision before they finally smoothed out with his resolution. Squaring his shoulders, he swallowed what he was going to say.

“No, you don’t,” he said instead, his voice hard as he turned away, not bothering to turn back towards him as he continued to speak. “You must have me confused with someone else.”

A spasm rocked over Shiro’s sternum as he took an involuntary step forward, raising his arm as if he could grab Keith and stop him.

“Wait!” He yelled, the soft ache of fear cracking the word as Keith threw a questioning look over his shoulder. “I want to know you then.”

Color brushed itself over the high of Keith’s cheek, turning it a soft shade of pink as he went rigid much like he had earlier when Shiro had made himself known. Turning slowly, he openly stared down at him with curiosity and a strange light that brightened his gaze.

The pause was insignificant in its length. Nothing more than the space of a breath but it was enough. Shiro took another step forward as he dropped his hand back to his side.

“What’s your name?”

Deja vu turned his stomach as he stared up at the kitsune, watching closely as something a lot like pain twitched at the edges of his expression. The blush across his cheeks darkened further as he looked off to the side.

“I’m Keith.”

His answer was low and soft, but Shiro heard it all the same. Electricity zinged through his veins as his lips turned upward into a bright smile that reflected the light of the sun above.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Keith.” Keith’s eyes flicked back towards him as he raised his unmarked hand up to his chest.

“I’m Shiro.”

*******************

Art by [Kai](http://dyedgreyillusion.tumblr.com/)! [Link to art!](http://runonthewind.tumblr.com/post/176141689125/for-the-sheithreversebang-its-done-ahaa-i-know)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, you can’t call something a slow burn without a scene where they almost kiss. It just can’t be done. ~~hi my name is vicci and i almost forgot to share this today~~

“No. No, no, no. No. No.” Lance’s string of negatives earned him a hard glare from Kolivan as he fixed his own gaze on Shiro. With his eyes wide, he looked even younger than his appearance already lent him to look as he silently pled with the inugami across the room. Not that Shiro couldn’t see where he was coming from. What the Blades were proposing was a risky plan, and that’s looking at it optimistically.

Realistically, it would no doubt end with the death of their entire retinue, which would make the point of taking part in it in the first place moot.

That morning when they’d convened to talk about his purification, he had known that it wouldn’t be something easy. A curse like the one that twisted his veins and ate at his flesh wasn’t one that would be dispelled with simple charms, but he couldn’t have prepared himself for the truth of it.

Their biggest problem, as Kolivan had explained it, was that without knowing the exact curse, reversing its effects would be impossible.

 _The wrong purification would kill you just as easily, inugami_ , he’d said, eyes darkening as they flicked over Shiro.  _And twice as painfully_.

As Kolivan had continued to explain, they would need to infiltrate the Galran camp to find the spell that had woven itself into Shiro’s being. It was this very part of the plan that landed them at their current impasse as Lance continued to shake his head.

“This all sounds fishy,” Lance continued, eyeing the kitsune around them with lingering suspicions.

“How do you know where the curse came from but not the curse?” Hunk interjected thoughtfully, looking to Shiro who nodded his head slightly in agreement. There was a base trust that he felt for the Blades built solely on their merit, but there was something just below the surface of every one of their calculated words and measured looks. Shiro could feel it weighing down the atmosphere, and he could see it in the quick glances that Keith and Kolivan would exchange.

The only problem was that he didn’t know how to breach the subject.

Even if he did though, he knew he wouldn’t.

If there was anything he couldn’t afford, it was to lose the help he’d sought for so long. They had come too far for that, so he would bite his tongue.

Now, if only his companions would do the same.

“We can sense it in its magic. Only someone of Galra blood could cast a curse like this.” His eyes shifted smoothly over the group, stalling momentarily in a veiled look behind him before passing back over. “We believe it to be the Galran witch herself.”

“Galran witch?” Shiro’s ears jerked upwards in interest as he looked over the large kitsune. It was the first he’d heard of anything that might tie to his past, and no matter how strong he was, he couldn’t quite bite down on the intrigue that made his fingers twitch.

“Haggar.” The answer was smoke filled, and came behind him. Turning quickly, Shiro looked at Keith, urging him to explain further.

“They say Zarkon holds the power over the Galra, but everyone knows the witch has the true power.”

Sadness softened the hard chips of his amethyst eyes as he dragged his gaze along Shiro’s edges. Biting down on the full of his lip, he tried to swallow down the electric feeling that buzzed within the cage of his chest with the look.

“Whatever you did, you made a powerful enemy.” Keith’s eyes filled with apology as he returned them to meet Shiro’s.

Opening his mouth around a reassurance, the inugami stopped himself, pausing as he realized he wasn’t even sure what he could possibly say to reassure the kitsune. He didn’t even know what Keith felt the need to apologize for.

“Because of this we will not send you alone. Now that you are here, you are under our protection,” Kolivan said, cutting off Shiro’s thoughts and pulling his attention away as the leader tilted his chin towards the man behind him.

“Keith will accompany you on your quest.”

“Keith?” Lance’s voice was sharp with indignation as he spoke up again. It stalled conversation as everyone turned to face the tengu, Keith himself tensing at his brisk tone.

“He’s just a two tail!” He continued as he gestured toward the kitsune, whose eyes were quickly darkening. The air around him seemed to grow heavy with burning anger as he stepped forward, his tails swaying slowly at the remark.

They were the first thing Shiro had noticed when the meeting had convened. Up until that point, Keith had kept up his glamour that hid them from the sight of others, leaving only his ears as a sign of what he truly was. But amongst his clansmen, he let the glamour slip away to reveal his two magnificent tails.

There wasn’t much that Shiro knew about the kitsune kind, but he knew that the key to their power was held in the number of tails they had. Nine tailed kitsune were thought to be some of the most powerful beings in the world.

Even then though, Keith’s were something to be revered. Standing out a magnificent white tipped with the same ebony of his hair, they were unlike that of any of the other kitsune in the Blades.

“What of it?” Keith asked vehemently, his words poisoned darts that aimed to strike killing blows as he stared down Shiro’s companion.

“What of it is that you’re just a pup,” Lance shot back, leveling Keith with a twinned stare as he stepped forward. The atmosphere in the room shifted as Shiro saw the way the rest of the clan watched them. While none of them made any blatant moves, he knew that they would be quick to join any fight that might break out.

Rather, they would be quick to end any.

“Lance, maybe you should tone it down,” Hunk said calmly, eyeing the rest of the room before he dropped a steadying hand on his friend’s shoulder. With a sharp jolt, Lance knocked it away.

“I’m stronger than you, tengu. Want me to prove it?” Keith’s eyes were a violent firestorm of purples as he clenched his fist. If Shiro hadn’t been looking, he might have missed the way a bright light seemed to slip through the cracks of his fingers.

“Yeah, I think I would actually,” Lance growled as he took another step forward, clenching his own fist. The illumination coloring Keith’s fist seemed to grow brighter and more powerful as he bit down on his anger. It was a light that he knew all too well.

Quickly placing himself between them, Shiro raised an arm towards Lance.

“Lance.” He warned, turning the short syllable of his name into something sharp. It was enough to pull the tengu’s oceanic gaze to him, their tides filling with hurt as he realized just which side the inugami had fallen too.

“Enough!” Kolivan’s voice was laced with power as it cut through the tense air and pulled everyone’s attention to the leader. He stood taller, his face shadowed by authority as he fixed his burning stare on one point. It felt like it cut straight through Shiro’s core and for a moment he found himself buckling beneath the weight of it until he realized that he wasn’t looking at him.

Or Lance.

Instead, Kolivan’s stare bore into Keith, his mouth pressed into a firm line with things left unsaid. Several seconds of uneasy silence passed before Keith finally looked away without another word, carefully stepping back from Shiro and Lance and folding into himself as he pressed his back against the wall.

“Keith will go with you, there will be no other discussion.” His amber stare slid from the kitsune to Shiro. “If he does not go, we will not help you.”

The tension returned, blanketing the trio as Kolivan held Shiro’s gaze in challenge before he found himself nodding in agreement.

“Okay,” he said slowly, cutting off Lance’s sound of protest with a quick flick of his hand. “Tell us the rest of the plan.

***

The night air was still as it blanketed Shiro’s skin with its cool chill as he let his feet carry him across the temple’s courtyard in search. During the planning, Keith had quietly disappeared, sneaking through the doorway without notice. Or, what he thought was without notice.

How was he to know that Shiro seemed to be constantly aware of his very presence, or lack thereof?

As soon as the meeting had diminished, he’d ordered Hunk and Lance to prepare before setting out on his own mission to find the kitsune, though he’d left no trace of where he possibly could have gone. Even so, something continued to pull Shiro forward of its own accord.

It was a barely there pull of static strings that set one foot in front of the other until he found himself stepping across the tree line and into a quiet clearing. Moonlight touched the forest greens with silver linings, turning the area into something of a dreamscape as he felt his very breath stall momentarily in his throat.

Before him, across the stretch of plush grass was a brightly lit pond, its surface turned to liquid mercury where it was touched by the light above. And beside it, sat Keith.

Carefully reaching out, the kitsune tapped the tip of his finger against the unmoving water, sending ripples out over the mirror like pond. Watching the edges that disturbed the surface, Keith continued to draw his fingertips along it, painting the water with an all too familiar light that twisted and turned in arcing shapes.

A quiet serenity fell over him as he watched the light bend and sway with the ripples, riding their curves as if they were alive.

 _Maybe_ , he thought to himself as he tried to remember how to breathe,  _they are_.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Keith’s voice sliced through the night air like a knife, startling Shiro as he turned to look over his shoulder. His eyes were bright with the same fading light that had touched the pond.

“It isn’t very polite to just stand and stare.”

The words sent a heated blush across Shiro’s cheeks and down his neck as he nodded, speechless as he began to move towards the kitsune. Settling in beside him, he kept his eyes turned out over the now stilled water. Waves of muted fire felt like they were rolling off of Keith’s skin, licking against his own and leaving long lines of char in their place.

It made his entire being ache with burning want as his fingers twitched against his thigh as he fought against the desire to just reach out and touch.

Suffocating quiet settled along their shoulders as they sat, neither saying anything as Shiro tried to swallowing down the roiling emotion that threatened to choke him as Keith just breathed.

“I’m sorry.” Shiro’s voice rasped lowly as he finally managed to get it around the stone in his throat. He felt more than saw Keith’s confused stare as he turned to face him.

“For my friends,” he continued without facing the man beside him. “We’ve been searching for you—”

A bolt shot through Keith’s body, causing him to stiffen beside Shiro as he rectified his statement.

“— for the Blades for so long. It almost feels too easy, so I can’t really blame them for questioning.” Finally glancing towards Keith, he caught the tail end of his lingering stare before he looked back out towards the pond.

“But they didn’t have any right to question your ability to help us.”

“No, I understand,” Keith said easily, shaking his head slightly. “I worry about that myself.”

He said it so quietly, Shiro almost missed it as he turned to look at him fully. Moonlight gilded his features, sharpening the high points of his cheeks and sleek line of his nose. It settled gently in his inky waves and flicked at the tips of his ears as they flattened against his skull under the scrutiny of Shiro’s gaze.

There, beneath the ethereal light, he was beautiful. An untouchable force of barely contained fire.

“I don’t,” Shiro said suddenly, the confession even startling himself as it wrestled itself from his lips unbidden. Startled him further as he realized that it was true. “I trust you.”

Mauve engulfed his vision as Keith looked up at him, eyes wide with wonder. Within them, Shiro was certain he could see the night sky.

“Why?” He asked, the single word dusting across Shiro’s face as he felt himself drawn closer.

“You remind me of someone,” he said earnestly, the heat from Keith’s skin burning hotter. It was stifling, weighing against him as he fought to close the small distance that was filled with their breath. Eyes searching for something in Shiro’s own gaze, Keith sat frozen just a hairbreadth away as if he was fighting against the very same force tugging the inugami forward.

Then, he was gone.

Cool air rushed around him and chased away his hazy thoughts as Keith stood, pulling away and leaving Shiro alone on the ground.

“It’s getting late,” he said smoothly, offering his hand down. Looking up, Shiro couldn’t help but notice the way the moon clung to the sky behind him, creating a halo behind his hair as he smiled.

Carefully, he reached out and took his hand, reveling in the way their palms fit together.

***

_Sighing loudly, Keith rolled himself onto his stomach, propping his chin on his palm as he lazily dragged his fingers across the surface of the small pond in his favorite clearing. Shiro should have been there already, unless Antok had found some excuse to extend his training._

_Which, now that he thought about it, sounded very plausible._

_In the ten years that had passed since that fateful night in the forest when Shiro had saved him, the Blades had adopted the young inugami into the clan as a way of thanks. Kolivan tried to act tough and tell him that it was because Shiro was an orphan and they had a duty to protect those in their forest, but Keith knew better._

_Gratitude was what led the kitsune to let him stay._

_Not that he was complaining. With Shiro there, he finally had someone about his own age to be friends with, and he’d taken full advantage of that. The only time the pair of them ever found themselves separated was during their separate training sessions in which Shiro went with Antok to improve his fighting and charms, and Keith went with Kolivan to train his light._

_Even then though, they’d both managed on the odd occasion to escape from their own training to sneak a glimpse of the others._

Your power is so cool _, Shiro had once told him with a wide smile that sent a foreign shock through his system._

You really think so? _He’d asked dumbly, unaware that the light he possessed could be anything but a nuisance. Up until that point, he was certain it was more of a curse. As the first kitsune in hundreds of years to possess the power over light, the Blades had always kept more of an eye on him than he felt was particularly necessary. It made for a sheltered life that Keith abhorred._

_At least, until he’d seen the way Shiro had looked at him with eyes wide in open wander._

_Sighing again, Keith flicked at the water, sending a wave of light crashing and rolling out along its surface in an undisturbed ripple. Watching it carefully as it rushed to the other end of the small pool, Keith set another arc in the water as soon as it reached the soft grass on the other side._

_Counting the time with each perfectly form arch, Keith could feel the weight of the undefined something that began to press out against the inside of his ribs. It seared with an unfamiliar heat that left him gasping for breath each time the inugami would pull him into his orbit._

_Without a name for it, Keith often found himself wondering if that was just the shape of friendship, though deep down he knew better._

_There was a much better explanation for the way his heart leapt whenever they were together, and how heat lightning would race along his skin where Shiro would accidentally bump against him._

_A small voice at the back of his mind whispered that it was childish infatuation._

_It was a good thing Keith had always been good at ignoring that voice._

_At the edge of the trees surrounding him, he heard the sharp crack of a breaking branch, snapping his concentration in half as he looked toward the direction of the sound. A thrill raced across his sternum as he saw an all too familiar outline walking between two twin oaks._

_Shiro’s smile was brighter than any light he could hope to tame as he broke through the trees, waving at Keith as if he didn’t already know that it was meant for him. Returning the wave excitedly, he flicked an ode to its crescent shape into the water before he pushed himself up._

_Okay, so maybe he did have a crush on his best friend. It didn’t really matter all that much, because he wasn’t ever going to admit that._

_In the end, he was more than happy with this. And if this was how they could stay forever, he would be fine._

_****************_


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably also should have added self indulgent sparring session to the tags lol Anyway, CHECK OUT THAT ART AT THE END OF EVERYTHING BECAUSE IT'S PERFECT! I LOVE IT ALL SO MUCH TT.TT

As it turns out, Lance and Keith don’t get along.

It’s a discovery that was made not too long into their journey, but that made it seem impossibly long as they’d trekked through the forest to the valley that the Galra called home. Hunk, to his credit, did his best to remain neutral during the arguments that continuously ignited between his friend and the kitsune, but he still ended up siding with Lance in a show of solidarity.

And Shiro?

Shiro was inclined to come to Keith’s defense. He reasoned that it was in an attempt to keep things fair within their mismatched group, but a biting voice at the back of his mind kept telling him he knew that was a lie.

It had less to do with his righteousness and everything to do with this primal instinct that seemed to tear itself through his chest whenever he saw the way the two would start to bicker. A feral snarl would lick itself along the back of his sternum as something deep within him would try and crawl its way out of his skin to get between the two.

Which, was admittedly ridiculous, since it had always been clear that Keith didn’t need Shiro’s protection.

That much had become alarmingly clear during their trip as Shiro found his gaze continuously drawn towards the lean lines that made up his frame, tracking the way his muscles would roll beneath his skin as he would take down an animal for their meals or set up his tent.

If anyone asked him— which they didn’t— he would say he was just admiring the other man’s form.

If he asked anyone— which he didn’t— they would say he looked hungry.

Sighing loudly, he pulled the last rope to his tent taut before winding it tightly around the stake he’d buried deep within the earth.

It was still early to be setting up camp for the evening, but that pesky instinct had pushed their retinue just a little too far, and now they just busied themselves within pointed silence.

He wasn’t even sure what had sparked the argument this time, or who had even started it, but Shiro was the one that ended it, resulting in Lance and Keith both storming off with twinned huffs. The former had at least returned minutes later, but the latter was still lost amongst the trees and his own thoughts.

His absence left a dark cloud that loomed over the camp as the storm it carried threatened to break.

“I’m just saying, we shouldn’t have to set up his tent since he isn’t here,” Lance growled as he tugged at the canvas of his tent, tilting it off kilter. “He’s the one that left.”

“I don’t mean to rain on your parade, buddy, but you left too,” Hunk replied, keeping his eyes turned to his own task as he gave his tent’s rope a final pull. Peeking through his white bangs, Shiro watched the two tengu closely, catching the way Lance’s shoulders tightened at the verbal jab.

“Yeah, but I came back,” he said with a grunt as he tried to push his tent back up and straight. “Shiro should just do it.”

There was his earlier, mutinous tone.

“Lance,” Shiro warned as he pushed himself up from where he was crouched, keeping his eyes trained on the younger man who just looked up at him sweetly.

“What? Isn’t he your favorite?” He cooed, widening his eyes in mock shock.

“I’m just trying to keep things fair,” Shiro growled, pinching the bridge of his nose as he settled his cursed hand on his hip in an attempt to push down the annoyance that was bubbling and fizzing in his chest.

They were just about a day from the Galra camp, so it wasn’t necessarily a bad place to stop, but that didn’t stop the bite of aggravation he felt about the whole situation. Shiro would have preferred if they’d gotten closer, but with the state of their group, there was no way that was going to happen.

The fact of it was slowly working at Shiro’s last nerve, and Lance wasn’t helping at all.

“Fair, my ass,” Lance scowled as he crossed his arms across his chest, pushing himself away from his tent, but keeping balanced on the balls of his feet. “There’s something weird, Shiro, and I don’t like it.”

“You clearly haven’t liked him since this whole thing started,” Shiro said lowly, ignoring the way his tone sounded abrasive, even to him.

“No. No, see, that’s what I’m talking about, you always come to his defense,” Lance retorted, fully pushing himself up to his full height. Black lined his shoulders as his wings twitched outward in a show of defiance.  

“Because he’s a little outnumbered here,” he sighed, swallowing down the bitter beast that he could feel pushing itself up through his throat.

“Whatever. You can’t tell me that something doesn’t feel wrong.” Lance said, crossing his arms and glaring at him. “It’s too easy.”

Those words stopped Shiro suddenly as he heard his own thoughts echoed in Lance’s boyish voice.

It is too easy. He’d been sitting on the thought for awhile now, and it felt all the more true as he heard it coming from his companion.

Lance’s eyes brightened as he caught his pause, running along with it.

“See!” He said excitedly, turning toward Hunk and gesturing a sharp hand to his friend. “Hunk thinks so too, right Hunk?”

In response, Hunk raised his hands as if in surrender before nodding slowly.

“It does feel really easy. Why would the Blades help us out?” He asked, taking a couple steps forward to join their barely formed circle.

“Allura said that getting them to agree would be almost impossible. And that was being nice because being denied meant that at least we found them.”

“What are you trying to say?” Shiro’s ears flattened against his hair as his gaze danced between the tengu. A strange electricity is tickling inside his skin, and it felt like a warning.

“They found us, Shiro,” Hunk continued, emphasizing the hand the Blades themselves had in their being found. “They didn’t have to capture us. With the kind of magic they do, even if we were right on top of them we probably wouldn’t have found them.”

Lance’s eyes brightened further as he turned back to Shiro, his excitement thrumming through him as he stepped in towards Shiro again, opening his arms and wings wide as he spoke.

“Yeah! And there’s something weird about how Keith looks at you too. It’s like he knows something about you. Like he has some claim over you.”

Something a lot like a memory pressed itself into the back of his mind and rolled itself down its neck. It carved cool lines in his skin and raised goosebumps along his arms and he tried to catch the distant thought, only to miss it as it danced just out of his grasp and lingered in the darkness.

There was something he was certain he should know, and yet it continued to taunt him from the shadows.

Annoyance forced a growl into his throat.

“You don’t even know each other!” Lance said with finality, as if it was the proof of he needed to make his point.

“Enough, Lance!” Shiro snapped, silencing the tengu as his eyes widened. Mirrored expressions of mixed confusion and hurt stare back at him as Hunk and Lance watch him as he deflated.

Everything suddenly felt like too much and Shiro just wanted to find a quiet place.

Really, he just wanted to find those purple eyes.

A darkness swept across Lance’s face as he set it into something stormy, turning his back to Shiro.

“Fine,” he grumbled as he threw open the flap of his still slightly lopsided tent, disappearing behind the heavy canvas and leaving Shiro alone with Hunk.

“Listen, Shiro. I know you don’t want to think about it, but something is weird,” Hunk said carefully, leaving his gaze set on Lance’s tent. Further deflating, Shiro opened his mouth to apologize, only to be cut off by Hunk’s oak gaze as he turned back to face him.

“I’m glad they’re helping. I just can’t help but wonder why, that’s all.”

Without any other words, the tengu turned to his own tent, pausing for just a moment as if he expected Shiro to say something before he followed suit. Growling angrily, Shiro threw his head back, looking up at the darkening sky and playing their words over and over in his mind.

He knows he should be worried about the situation. Everything about it felt as if something bigger than they were was hiding beneath the surface.

But all he could think about was the shade of Keith’s midnight sky gaze, and where he might have gone.

Dragging a steadying breath through his teeth, he turned to his own tent before he pushed his way into it, welcoming the shadows as the flap closed behind him.

***

The heat of the day was lost with the setting of the sun, and Shiro could feel it settling into his bones as he pushed himself further down into his blanket in hopes to catch some semblance of sleep. Since their argument, Hunk and Lance had remained in their tents, only coming out for a quick meal of Hunk’s famous traveling stew before returning without a word.

And Keith?

Keith had returned sometime later, quietly shuffling through the camp and around the dying embers of their fire before pushing himself into his tent.

Shiro only knew this because he had still been awake, pressed beneath the weight of his confused thoughts and worry. It had been enough to stall his limbs of movement when he’d wanted to go out and meet with Keith, to ask if he was okay, but all he could hear was Hunk’s steady voice as it repeated itself over and over.

 _I just can’t help but wonder why_.

Why were the Blades helping? More importantly, what did they know? Because even Shiro couldn’t deny the fact that the clan knew something.

They weren’t as good at lying as they might have thought, and he certainly hadn’t missed the quiet way they’d communicated between each other. At the time, Shiro had convinced himself that it was best to let it lie. They needed the help no matter how he looked at it.

But now, so close to the Galra camp and the druid that had cursed him, he couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, he should have asked.

A rolling ache passed over the muscles of his arm, seizing them momentarily in a painful cramp that sucked the air from his lungs. Reach toward the ball of his shoulder, he worked his fingers into the dark skin, trying to ease the tension as if that would make any difference.

In the time since they’d left the pain of it had been a near constant. On his good days, it was nothing more than a constant thrum that made his skin feel too thin and his pulse too sharp.

On his bad days, it felt as if his very flesh was being peeled from his bones.

They were running out of time.

He, was running out of time.

“Shit,” he breathed as he sat up, letting his blanket fall from his frame as he pressed his palm into his shoulder, hoping that the pressure would do something by way of dulling the ache.

It was then that a low keening sound ripped through the quiet night, making his ears twitch with at its timbre. Filled with pain and sorrow, it erred toward a whimper that repeated with the same cadence of a mantra and it pulled Shiro to his feet.

Keith’s voice wrapped itself around the muttered words, coloring them with panic and something that sounded a lot like fear as Shiro crossed the space between their tents. Without much thought, he threw open the canvas, pushing himself through to see Keith’s sleeping form as he twisted violently beneath his blanket, calling out into the darkness.

The despair that clutched at the kitsune’s voice tugged a bitter, distant memory into the shadows of his mind as Shiro felt the harsh sense of familiarity burning at the base of his throat.

“Please,” Keith murmured as his hand clawed at the ground beside him, almost as if he was reaching out for someone. His nails bit into the fabric he’d laid down, pulling it up as he clutched it.

In the distance, he heard the faint echo of another voice.

It sounded younger, but trapped within the same smoky rasp that he knew from his dreams and and from his waking hours with Keith.

 _Please_ , it echoed as lightning singed the edges of the mark on his chest, igniting it in such a way that it stilled his breath and gave him pause. Keith’s next plea was impossibly soft as it cracked around the edges exposing emotion like a raw nerve.

“Shiro.”

It broke him of his thoughts as he fell forward onto his knees beside the kitsune, his hands gently grasping at his shoulders as he shook him carefully.

“Keith,” he said lowly, unable to raise his voice around the strange burn that ate away at his voice. Inky brows pulling together in concern, Shiro watched as Keith’s lips twitched and formed around silent words and his face twitched around a snarl.

“No,” he whispered, hands twisting into claws once more as he lurched against Shiro’s hold. “Shiro!”

“C’mon Keith, wake up,” he tried again through gritted teeth, shaking a bit harder.

A gasp sharp and sudden ripped from Keith as his eyes went wide, engulfing Shiro within his nighttime stare as he launched himself forward with another cry of his name. Nails tore into the skin of his back as Keith wrapped his arms around his neck, crashing them together so that his face was nuzzled at Shiro’s chest, right against the burning mark. Warm heat collected in the fabric of his night shirt as Keith breathed, each motion a wracked with the sound of tears.

Coolness settled into the mark, pushing back the angry heat as Shiro felt the sturdy press of Keith’s cheek against it.

Time stood still as Keith tried to steady the crash of his pulse as he pushed further into Shiro’s chest as if in search of something to ground him.

“Hey,” Shiro hushed, not entirely sure what to say. A sense of right settled into his bones as his brain tried to memorize the feel of Keith’s palms at his back and his weight at his chest.

The only answer came in the form of another hiccuping breath.

“Hey,” he tried again, settling his own arms carefully around Keith’s back, cradling him gently against him. “It’s okay.”

The quiet of the night settled into them as they continued to sit like that, neither moving more than the subtle rise and fall of their chests. Keith’s breathing slowed and his sobs quieted as time started to slowly crawl around them again until Shiro felt his muscles tense against him.

With a sharp push, Keith ripped himself from the halo of his arms, looking up with alarmed eyes.

Shiro couldn’t help but notice the tracks of his tears that still clung to his cheeks, or the way his hands ached to reach forward and brush them away.

“I’m sorry,” Keith said lowly, pushing further back out of Shiro’s space and against the back of his tent. He looked so much smaller like this, and in the dark. The beast within his chest twisted as it yearned to curl around him.

“Don’t apologize,” Shiro said carefully, shaking his head and offering Keith a small smile. “I know a thing or two about bad dreams.”

The joke fell flat as Keith looked at him, an impossibly deep sadness making his eyes almost black as he looked over Shiro. It rocked his heart with a fathomless ache as he pushed himself up.

“Well, I guess I’ll go.” He didn’t mean for it to sound as awkward as it did, but he suddenly felt as if he’s drowning. There was something about Keith that almost always made him feel out of his depth, and right now, he was certain he was about to be pulled under and would never find his way back to the surface. 

Turning toward the entrance of his tent, his lips were poised around his goodbye when he felt the tight grip of Keith’s hand on his wrist. Looking over his shoulder, he was met with the kitsune’s eyes, set wide and pleading as his mouth twitched around a sheepish expression.

“Could you—” he started, pausing as he cut his gaze away. “Could you stay?”

A pause pushed between them as Shiro tried to catch up, replaying the question until it finally clicks.

_Could you stay?_

“Yeah,” he breathed. “Okay.”

Dropping Shiro’s wrist, Keith nodded as he made room for him to sit beside him on his pallet. In such close quarters, he was suddenly very aware of his size as he shot Keith another small smile. It was nothing special, and yet it seemed to break the tension as Keith returned the look, a question burning deep within the amethyst of his eyes.

Unsure of the question, he found himself nodding anyway as he realized that, no matter what, the answer would always be yes.

Scooting across the small space, Keith settled himself into his side and gently pressed his head against his shoulder. The motion lined their arms together, creating a heated line where their skin met, and for the first time that night, Shiro felt comfortably warm.

Not much time passed before he felt Keith’s breathing even against him.

It was even less time after that before Shiro felt himself falling into his own deep sleep.

***

_It’s more than a crush._

_Keith realized that much with alarming clarity nearly two years later during a night under the moon and stars that lit his profile in such a way that he seemed to glow. It came upon him with such a suddenness that nothing stood between the moment before and the moment after but a single breath._

_It was more than a crush._

_He was pretty sure it was love._

_Not that he had anything to compare it to, or even anyone to ask, but he’s heard enough stories to know that this feeling that continued to beat itself into the back of his sternum was something inescapable. It shaped him and reformed him until he was so much more than what he had been, and it was all thanks to Shiro._

_Of course, right now with their chests heaving at the scent of damp sweat in the air, he didn’t have much to thank him for. Standing just across from him, in his cropped undershirt and fighting pants with sweat lighting bright lines along his muscles, he looked like something out of his best dreams._

_Which turned him into a waking nightmare for Keith._

_His heart quaked within his chest as he tried to swallow it down, setting himself for another round as he dropped into a low stance with his fists raised before him._

_“Is that all you’ve got?” He asked, grinning wide and sharp as he watched Shiro’s brow arch at the challenge before he mimicked the stance._

_“I’m just getting started.” Quick as lightning, Shiro made his move, stepping quickly across the mat between them and throwing a quick jab that Keith easily dodged. Falling into a comfortable rhythm, they exchanged friendly swipes without any heat as they dodged and twisted away from each other._

_It was less like training and more like fun as Keith found himself laughing, filling the room with the sound of his mirth._

This is good _, he thought to himself as he watched Shiro feign a right hook before going for the left. Side stepping out of his path and calculating the line of Shiro’s movement. It left him open and vulnerable as Keith saw his chance. Wrapping a hand around his outstretched wrist and placing his palm to his chest, he threw his weight into it, pushing Shiro down._

_A loud huff escaped the inugami’s lips as his back hit the ground, his eyes growing wide as Keith scrambled against him until his weight was pressed into Shiro’s chest and his hands were held above his head. It isn’t much of a pin, Keith knows that, and he could easily escape it._

_That fact has a line of excitement lighting a fire along his spine as he looked down at Shiro._

_Heat erupts across his skin suddenly as he sees the bright silver of the inugami’s eyes go dark beneath him. The room was filled with the sound of their labored breaths as their chests heaved in time and suddenly, Keith was certain he was going to be crushed by just how much he wants._

_Shiro is right there, within his hands and he’s never quite known how much he’s truly ached for him until right now as he found himself unable to look away from the small part of his lips._

_“Yield,” Keith said, ignoring how breathless it sounded. Color seeped into Shiro’s cheeks as he continued to appraise him, the silver slipping behind dark pitch as he kept his stare trained on his face._

_“Yield,” he tried again, pressing harder into his wrists and against his chest as the aching fire ran through veins and licked along the inside of his skin._

_“What if I don’t want to?” Shiro’s voice was deep, melting around an emotion that Keith instantly recognized. It forced him back slightly as his eyes widened with the shock of it as he realized that he heard everything he felt twisting behind the question._

_The moment was fleeting, but it was enough as Shiro heaved himself upward, pushing Keith to the side and rolling over him. Balancing his weight with his forearms at either side of Keith’s head, he looked down at him with unabashed fondness before his gaze flicked down to his lips._

_“Keith,” he started, his name a soft brush as Shiro returned his black stare to his amethyst. His mouth parted around things he should say. Probably wanted to say._

_Instead, Keith stole them from the tip of his tongue as he surged upward, closing the distance between them with a short chaste kiss. Nothing more than a simple pressing of their lips, he pulled back again quickly, his ears pressing into the top of his hair as heat flushed his cheeks._

_Shock made Shiro’s eyes bright as his mouth formed a small ‘o’._

_“Shiro,” Keith said quickly, skin warming further as he spoke. “I’m sor—”_

_Shiro’s lips were hot against his as they moved against his words. This kiss was warmed honey that rolled against his skin, filling him with the sticky sweet feeling of his heart bursting against his chest._

_With a single swooping sensation, he realized that he was happy._

_Well, and truly happy._

_Opening further into the kiss, Keith reached up to wrap his arms around his neck, pulling him further into him as he let himself get lost within the crashing burn of their shared happiness and everything that Shiro was._

******************

All art by [Kai](http://dyedgreyillusion.tumblr.com/)![ Link to art!](http://runonthewind.tumblr.com/post/176141689125/for-the-sheithreversebang-its-done-ahaa-i-know)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which we finally get some damn answers

Choking on the weight of stuffy heat filling his lungs, Shiro woke with a suddenness and the memory of Keith’s breath tickling his neck as they’d fallen against each other in sleep. It left his chest feeling hollow as he reached a hand out toward the abandoned spot beside him and found the blankets mussed and without the warmth of a body clinging to them. Swallowing down the sharp tang of disappointment, he pushed himself up and ran a hand down his face in an attempt to brush the remaining sleep from his eyes.

He should have known better than to think that the night before would have changed anything.

Keith had stubbornly kept him at arm’s length the entire journey, holding adamantly to the fact that he wasn’t who Shiro thought he was. The previous night had been something of a slip up. A quick cracking of his defenses that Shiro had managed to slip through just in time, but it seemed they’d gone back up and now he found himself back where he started.

It was, for lack of a better term, frustrating.

Shiro knew there were other things he should be concerned with, mainly the Galra camp they planned to infiltrate that evening for the sake of saving his own life, but he continued to find himself preoccupied with those burning amethyst eyes that he’d once only seen in his dreams.

Now, those very same eyes tracked him as he pushed himself out of the tent and into the sun. Keith’s heavy stare was accompanied by Hunk and Lance’s twinned looks of shock as they flicked their gazes between the tent he came out of, and the one he should have come out of.

“Not playing favorites, huh?” Lance said lowly as he turned his attention to Hunk. The taller tengu just shrugged as he looked to Shiro with his own questions glowing deep within his eyes.

“Enough,” Shiro warned, his voice snapping closer to irritated than he’d intended before he settled his own attention on Keith. An immeasurable number of questions played on his lips as he tried to sort through them to find them one he could ask.

_Why did you always help me?_

_Why won’t you let me in?_

_What do you know?_

“How much longer to the camp?” He asked finally, ignoring the pang in his chest as he let everything he wanted to say fall to the wayside. Purple caught the sunlight as Keith dragged his gaze over Shiro’s frame. Golden light twisted in the onyx of his hair as he cocked his head slightly, searching the inugami for something as he let silence fall over their own small camp.

“It can’t be too much further,” Hunk supplied, his head turning between the two as Keith continued his investigative stare. A brush of a memory tickled the back of Shiro’s neck under the weight of the look and the kitsune’s quiet.

Then, almost as soon as it had begun to suffocate him, it was gone.

“We’ll easily get there before sunset,” he said, voice moving like smoke as he gestured to them to follow as he turned over his shoulder.

Moving away from the unlit fire pit, Keith took several long strides towards a large patch of dirt just on the other side of it.

“Do we have a plan?” Lance asked, tone incredulous still as their trio followed the kitsune. He still didn’t trust him, that much was obvious in the way his stare continued to shift between him and Keith, and his mouth turned down in disapproval.

It was with a quick swoop low in his gut that he realized he wasn’t quite certain Lance trusted him anymore either.

Tension filled the space between them as Shiro caught his wandering gaze, holding it tightly as he raised a questioning brow. The ocean blue of Lance’s stare turned frozen as he returned the stare, crossing his arms over his chest defensively.

 _I don’t like this_ , his look said.  _I don’t like him_.

 _I know_ , Shiro’s returned.

He felt the slight burn of both Hunk and Keith watching, both waiting as the steel in Shiro’s eyes softened.

Sighing loudly, Lance finally acquiesced, shaking his head slowly and shrugging in defeat before he cut his blue gaze up through his bangs.

 _I’ll be watching him_ , it said. Shiro gave a small smile, touched by appreciation.

 _Good_.

Eyes shifting between the tengu and Shiro, Keith sized them up as he squatted beside the dirt and began drawing out long lines in the dirt. There was a heavy pause as they waited, watching the lines as they turned into quadrants of the Galra camp.

“Alright,” Keith finally said, brushing the grit from his hands, voice low and authoritative as he spoke. “Here’s what we’re going to do.”

***

_This won’t hold up against the witch._

Hunk’s words ran in a constant loop through Shiro’s mind as he knelt behind a large wooden box that had been shoved beside one of the main tents in the Galra camp. They hadn’t instilled much hope as Shiro felt the static hum of danger as it buzzed beneath his skin, making him jumpy as he heard the loud crunching steps of a guard walking along the other side of where he sat.

_This won’t hold up against the witch._

Which meant Shiro needed to avoid her at all costs. That much was part of the plan anyway, but given his luck, he wasn’t entirely sure just how much faith he was willing to put into the plan.

As Keith had explained it, it was easy enough. Hunk and Lance would charm them both with a basic camouflaging spell, and they would both infiltrate the camp from opposite ends and meet at the centermost point where Keith was certain Haggar would be housed.

 _Her tent will be here_ , he’d said with utmost certainty as he’d stabbed his finger into the middle point of his drawn dirt map.

 _But how do you know?_  Shiro had asked, trying to swallow down the feeling of near defiance that threatened to make him sound mutinous. Then Keith had silenced him with a pained look that dampened the fires in his eyes with something that looked a lot like sorrow.

 _Trust me_ , was all he had said, and it was all Shiro had needed as Keith had continued on to explain to the tengu about the alarm they were to raise should they see trouble arise from the outskirts of the camp.

Easy enough.

At least, that’s what he had thought. Now, alone within enemy territory and with every one of his instincts screaming for him to run, he wasn’t so sure anymore. There was something about the quiet that soaked into the ground and coated the air around him with malice, setting his teeth on edge as the hair along his arms raised.

Shiro knew this feeling well. It was the same unadulterated fear that he felt every night during the dream as the darkness tried to consume him whole. It left him reeling as a sudden wave rolled out over him, stealing his breath as he swayed toward the box beside him and just barely catching himself with his darkened hand.

Pulling air through his nose, Shiro tried to keep his gaze set before him as he fought back the floating feeling that made all else spin around him.

A shot of burning pain snaked out over his cursed arm, surprising him with the suddenness of it as he bit his startled cry in two. Looking down at his hand, he saw the glow of the purple veins as they twisted beneath his skin as they worked to tear his muscle from bone and left him breathless in its agony.

The pain had never been like this, which had to mean he was close.

“Not yet,” he growled through gritted teeth, ignoring the drop of sweat that rolled down his temple, carrying the weight of his efforts with it.

“Not yet,” he repeated like a mantra as he watched the guard stalk by, not once looking his way as he went. As his footsteps faded further toward the entrance of the camp, Shiro pushed himself up from where he’d crouched, carefully pushing himself around the wooden crate he’d been hiding behind.

As the plan went, he was supposed to wait for Keith. If he followed what the kitsune had said, they would enter the tent together. After all, how would Shiro even know what he was looking for?

But with the burn that turned the inside of his skin to char, Shiro couldn’t wait, because he was almost out of time.

Vision swimming and twisting the camp around him into angry visions befitting his nightmares, Shiro stumbled toward the large tent that sat alone in the center of the camp. Power heaved itself off its canvas, cascading over him as another rocking shot of electric heat burnt along his arm.

“Not yet,” he growled as he pushed himself toward the entrance.

 _Shiro_ , a voice called in the distance as his fingers brushed at the heavy fabric hanging over the entrance.

 _Shiro_ , it called again, sounding more urgent as his hand caught on the material.

_Shiro, no!_

Pushing the hanging canvas aside, fire erupted in his veins, twisting his mouth around a shout as his eyes fell upon the same pitch black that mired his dreams and threatened to consume him whole.

A jolt rocked him as he fell to his knees, gaze fixated on the darkness as his head spun violently.

“Shiro!”

Keith’s cry was the last thing he heard before everything else was shrouded in black.

***

_The day started like any other, with Keith waking to a heavy warmth pressed against his chest and Shiro’s sleepy breath tickling the flowered mate mark they both bore over their hearts. It had felt right, the bright morning sun that had drenched his skin in warm golden light turned Keith’s thoughts bright as he’d snuggled further into the covers without a thought to the darkness that always lingered around the edges of such light._

_It should have been like any other day._

_But it wasn’t._

_The attack came on hard and fast, catching the Blades off guard as a darkness had rolled through the temple on the back of choking smoke. Jagged lightning crackled, striking down many of the kitsune before several Galra followed suit, taking the temple in a flurry of flashing swords and dark words._

_Yellow eyes like those that had tracked Keith all those years ago punctuated the black fog, accompanied by a wicked cackle that sent fear racing through Keith._

_Haggar, as he’d learned since the night in the forest, had been after him and the light that he was able to harness since he was nothing more than a kit. It was the reason the temple stayed cloaked beneath a spell, hiding it from all others, and why Kolivan had gone through such great lengths to ensure he never went out into the night alone._

_The Galra, it seemed, had given themselves over to the darkness that Haggar possessed, becoming dark and twisted with nothing more than the single minded focus of stealing all the light from the world. Only one could ever possess powerful enough purifications to defeat them, and it seemed, that that was Keith. It was a heavy gift to bear that marked him like a curse._

_“My, how you’ve grown, little fox,” her voice was twisting and cruel, filled with more hate than he remembered. It was pointed and curved like a scythe, and it buried itself deep between his ribs as he widened his stance, reaching out to the light as he did his best to remember his training._

_The light never came to him unless he was patient, letting it come to him instead of seeking it._

Patience yields focus _, Shiro had once said with a toothy grin after Keith had lost his temper waiting for the familiar warm prickle of the light dancing across his knuckles._

_He called upon those words now, timing his breaths with the cadence of Shiro’s mantra as a tingle of small lightning cracks began to fizzle along his skin._

Shiro _, he thought carefully as he focused on the growing heat in his palms._ Please be safe.

_Shadows twisted and writhed within the brightness that filled the clearing as Keith leveled his gaze on the witch and where she stood just within the trees. She was just an impressive a figure as he’d imagined. Nothing but hard lines and claws, withered and angry just like the shadows that danced at her feet._

_“Grown enough to fight you, witch,” he snarled, pushing the sound over the bitter taste of fear that had coated his tongue. It was barely more than a bluff, he knew. The light caoted his hands now, alive and waiting for his command, but it had always been fickle and even now he can feel the strain of his control over it._

_Something in the way Haggar smiled told him that she knew that._

_“I wonder if that’s true,” she said, twisting the statement with thorns. There was just a moments pause, nothing more than the length of a shocked breath before she moved out from the trees, carried by her dark shadows as violet lightning cracked around her._

_Her first hit barely missed as Keith pushed himself forward, landing on his shoulder as he somersaulted, landing in a crouch as he threw an arm forward. Blinding white shocked from his fingertips, searching for a target, only to be met by the crackling purple of Haggar’s spell. It swallowed his light completely, blanketing the clearing in pitch black and stealing his vision._

_Grinding his teeth, Keith pulled against the light, bringing it back to life in his palms just in time to see Haggar’s next strike of angry shadows rolling out toward him. With a loud cry, he shoved his hand down into the ground, sending a shock of light out across the grass. Light met dark with all the force of a tempest as they roiled against each other before the light beat the shadows back._

_A small smile quirked Keith’s lips up as a single drop of sweat rolled lazily down his temple._

_“Don’t look so cocky,” Haggar soothed as her hands clawed around twisting darkness. Her eyes glowed brighter as her gaze flicked across Keith. “It looks like you’re time is up.”_

_Panic burned in his veins as he looked down at his palms to see his own skin, bare of any light._

No _, he thought as he reached out to the light once more, grasping at is desperately as it danced just outside of his reach._ Please.

_Haggar’s hit came quick, knocking the air from his lungs as it pushed him back and laid him out on the ground. He heard the crack of his ribs before he felt it, the sudden shot of pain barely muted by the adrenaline that had turned his pulse into a constant drumbeat in his ears._

_“You tried, little fox,” Haggar said slowly as she stepped toward him. Keith’s palms slipped against the grass as he tried to push himself away, coughing against the rolling stab of pain that erupted along his chest with the movement. Panic kept him pushing as he continued to reach toward the light that only seemed to get further and further away._

_For just a fleeting moment, his mind wandered toward Shiro and the soft smile he’d worn earlier that day that had glowed with the soft gold of the morning light._

_“But now it’s time for you to die.” The darkness crackled with palpable malice in her fist as she raised it, ready for her strike._

Shiro _, Keith thought as he continued to scramble backwards, hands searching for anything to use against the witch._ Please be safe.

_It was then, that he heard the soft rustle and sharp snap of a branch just to their right._

_“Keith!” Shiro’s voice was a loud bark as he broke through the tree line. A cut ran across the bridge of his nose, coloring his face with gore, and his chest was heaving, but he was alive. For just a moment, it felt like enough._

_That moment turned into an eternity as he watched the way Shiro’s silvered gaze flickered with moonlight, tracking Keith’s position and then Haggar’s before his mouth twisted down in determination. Ice settled into his veins as he watched Shiro make a decision._

_Time crashed back down on them with a suddenness as the inugami started to move, his mouth moving around the words of a charm like that that he used all that time ago._

_He’d saved Keith once._

_Now, he planned to do it again._

_Only this time, the sharp stab of ill omen twisted itself in his gut as Haggar’s spell writhed with life._

_“Shiro, no!” His warning was too late, timed with the leap that placed the inugami between him and the witch as she threw her curse._

_It screamed as it cut through the air, catching Shiro in the shoulder at the exact moment he finished crafting his own charm._

_Golden light exploded between them, filling the clearing with the same brightness of daylight as the spells met. Heat licked Keith’s skin as he raised an arm to his eyes, blocking most of the light from his eyes. It lingered, leaving him blind as he heard the sharp sound of Haggar’s twisting scream echoing through the trees around them._

_Several moments passed before the light faded, leaving Keith bathed in the gentle dark of night. Dropping his arm, he saw Shiro standing just in front of him, his shoulders moving around his breaths._

_And Haggar, was gone._

_“Shiro?” Keith said lowly, his voice a barely there crack as he winced against the stab of pain from his ribs. Silence was his reply as he continued to just stand and breathe._

_“Shiro?” He tried again, pushing through the ache that had settled into his bones as he made to stand. More quiet as a single breeze shook the leaves around them, and then Shiro was falling._

_Moving quickly, Keith caught him within the halo of his arms, falling down with him as he settled Shiro against his chest. Black pitch almost like tar stained the tips of his fingers, its shadows moving fluidly along his skin as it started to race its way along his flesh._

_A small sound of pain escaped his throat as his eyes screwed shut, twisting his face with agony._

_The curse meant for him, had found a mark._

_“Shiro!” His voice was frenzied, reaching a fevered pitch as his hands twitched over his frame. Sweat dotted his forehead as his skin paled, leaving his color muted as his edges began to fade._

_It gave him the same pallor of a ghost._

_“Stay with me,” Keith cried as his eyes tracked the swirling black as it edged its way over the ball of Shiro’s wrist, turning his skin dark as it twisted his veins with the ugly purple of Haggar’s magic._

_“I have to do something,” he said, more to himself as his hands fluttered across Shiro’s chest, riding the waves of his breath._

_“Please,” he pled, reaching out towards the light once more in search of a charm. Anything to keep Shiro whole. Anything to stop the quickly moving black and the sheerness that was stealing him away._

_It writhed and danced out of his grasp once more, almost taunting him with its warmth that barely licked his skin before it pulled away. Grinding his teeth, he screwed his eyes shut, trying to envision the way the light was move across his fingers in the form of a purification._

Please.

_Fire danced across his cheek as warm fingers brushed across his skin, pulling him back to the dark clearing._

_“You’re okay,” Shiro said dreamily, his voice low and distant like the muted silver of his eyes. “I knew you would be.”_

_Something in the way he spoke made it sound like a goodbye. Fear made his pulse flutter like a hummingbird against his sternum as he splayed his fingers along Shiro’s chest._

_“You saved me again.” The words were thick and wet with tears he hadn’t even realized he’d begun to shed. Shiro’s weight began to slowly leech from his grasp as he desperately pled with the light to come, but it never did._

_“I always will,” Shiro whispered with a barely there smile as his fingers left a phantom touch tracking the warm wet of his tears across his skin. Blackness crested over his elbow, leaving bright purple glowing painfully right beneath his skin._

_There, in his lap, he was nothing more than a ghost. A pale memory of the man he had been that morning._

_“How will you if you’re gone?” Keith hadn’t meant to say it, his eyes growing wide with the question as pain twisted Shiro’s face again._

_“I’ll find you,” he answered. It’s a barely there whisper carried on the wind. “Wait for me. I’ll find you.”_

_It was just a matter of a single breath, and Shiro was gone. Alone in the clearing with the phantom of his love burning against his skin. Keith looked down in his lap, mouth twisting down as tears fell down into his lap, turning the fabric of his pants a darker shade with them._

_Shiro was gone, and it was because of him._

_If only he had been able to harness the light that was supposed to protect them all._

_If only, he’d been able to do more._

_Time passed around him as he sat frozen in his grief, tracing the missing shape of his lover as the light of the sun began to crest over the trees._

_By the time Kolivan found him, his tears had dried and his expression had turned into something like a wildfire. Light was popping along his fingertips, burning the grass at his sides and turning his eyes a brighter shade of violet lightning._

_“Keith—” Kolivan started, reaching out for his shoulder only to be cut off by the rolling thunder of power in his voice._

_“We’re going to find him,” he said, turning to face the older kitsune. Rage twisted his mouth down in a determined snarl as he flicked his ears back in challenge. Waves of his anger rolled off of him, pushing Kolivan back as he stared wide eyed as the light along Keith’s hands charred all around him._

_“We’re going to get him back.”_

***********************


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My own reactions to this chapter can be found [HERE](https://media1.tenor.com/images/dbbc76f64e471e5ad8dba2972804d9de/tenor.gif?itemid=3547811) and [HERE](http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/84.gif).

Shiro remembered everything.

It had all come crashing back down on his consciousness with a sure handed viscousness that had almost torn him apart.

He had known Keith.

He’d been cursed trying to save Keith.

Most importantly, he had loved Keith.

He was his, and Shiro had forgotten.

Eyes shooting wide, he found himself staring up at the dull tan of his tent. A blanket was pulled up to his chin and his cursed arm was tucked safely against his chest, held there by soft white cloth. There was a stillness about his tent as he found himself alone, the only sign of any other life sitting next to him in the form of a bowl of water and a second set of blankets neatly folded to the side.

“I’m not one of them,” a strange voice said haughtily, pulling Shiro’s attention toward the entrance of his tent as it spoke. It was ambiguous in its pitch as the newcomer continued to speak to his companions. Pushing himself up with his free arm, he folded at his center as he just listened.

“Then why are you with them?” Keith’s voice is strong, filled with a bite that turned its diplomatic tone into something forced. There was a pause, filled with nothing more than the beat of the breeze against Shiro’s tent as they all waited a reply.

“They told me I could find my family.” It’s a quiet admission that settled a thick silence over the camp. Shiro leant forward, bracing his untouched hand against the pallet beside him as he heard the sound of soft shuffling and a poorly marked sniffle.

“They said if I helped them, if I helped the witch, they would help me find my family,” the newcomer’s voice wavered and cracked around the sound of barely contained tears. The they mentioned was left unsaid, but they all knew. They could hear it in the bitterness that tightened the word.

_Galra._

“Hey, man, it’s okay—” Hunk’s voice was comforting as he stepped in, only to be cut off by a small sound that was almost like a growl.

“But they lied.” Strength built the three words up with steel and grit as Shiro found himself pulling closer to the entrance of his tent. “Then you guys showed up and I just knew.”

“Knew what?” Lance’s voice was low, almost as soft as Hunk’s in its question.

“That I had to help you.” Another pause built itself between the newcomer and Shiro’s companions as the inugami found himself holding onto a breath. A slight burn tickled the inside of his chest as his lungs screamed for a release.

“How can you help us?” Keith asked, urgency filling his voice.

Grass crunched beneath the sound of a determined step.

“I know what curse was used on your friend.”

Electric static silence fell upon his tent with the revelation as a twist of pain splintered and cracked the bone of his arm that was still strapped against his chest. They knew what curse was charring his skin and turning his own blood to poison within his skin.

_But how?_

“How?” Keith echoed his thoughts with a voice dipping low as if speaking to himself.

The newcomer answered anyway.

“Because I helped craft it.”

Air stole from his tent as Shiro felt the jolting snap of something breaking loose in his chest. It left fire racing in his veins and a dull ache pressed to the mark above his heart and suddenly he couldn’t stay in the tent and listen anymore. Reaching up toward his neck, he pulled at the knot in the fabric that kept his arm folded over his chest, letting it fall away as he stood and pushed himself out of the tent.

Four gazes fell upon him, heavy, hot, and filled with worry as he looked over his companions. The only one that didn’t look at him as if he were dying, was the newcomer’s. Instead, theirs was bright in its gold, tracing over the angry black of his skin with open and sincere curiosity.

They’re short, barely reaching Keith’s shoulder, and their tawny hair was wild, adding a couple inches to their height. A large pair of glasses balanced on the tip of their nose, turning their already large eyes larger as it magnified their stare.

Shiro didn’t miss the careful swish of their five tails and the gentle flick of their oak brown ears.

Whoever the newcomer was, they were a kitsune, and a very strong one at that.

Carefully, Shiro offered the group a small, tired smile.

“Didn’t anyone tell you guys it wasn’t nice to leave people out?” He asked, ignoring the way the joke fell flat and the way they all continued to look him over. There was something about the awe that colored their eyes.

Something that said they hadn’t expected him to be up at all.

“Shiro, buddy, we need to work on your comedic timing,” Hunk said slowly, looking at him with widened eyes as if he’d seen a ghost.

For a moment, Shiro let himself wonder if he really looked that bad.

“And your jokes, for that matter,” Lance muttered, his own expression a mirror of Hunk’s.

“Shiro,” Keith’s voice is soft as he stretched the mauve space of his gaze out over his frame in as if in search of something wrong. Something other than the cursed arm that was still burning with the acidic linger of pain.

Shiro returned the gaze, not missing the way Keith’s eyes crested up his arm, followed the bow of his shoulder, and then stopped at his throat. The purple of his stare muddled with something dark as he looked at Shiro’s skin. He didn’t need to see it to know what had caused the kitsune pause.

The curse had spread.

It would be enough to make him falter on any other day, but now he couldn’t quite bring himself to care. Because standing there beneath the high sun, he was gilded in its glow and the very sight of him stopped the air in his lungs. A quick bolt of lightning cracked his chest as a small voice whispered a quiet reminder that Keith was  _his_.

Shifting his gaze away just as Keith cocked his head to the side in silent question, Shiro turned to the newcomer, offering his untainted hand.

“We haven’t met,” he said with an easy smile. “I’m Shiro.”

Looking him over, the stranger raised a brow before smiling, exposing sharpened canines as they reached out and took his hand.

“Pidge,” they said, turning their attention to the trio beside them before turning back to him, grin growing ever wider. “I’m the one that’s going to help save you.”

***

As it turned out, those were big words. What Pidge had really meant was that they were going to try and help save him. While they would be able to rebuild the curse, crafting took time, and there was still no guarantee that it would actually work.

That didn’t seem to matter much though, because for the first time, a sense of hope clung to the air like a fine fragrance. It turned everything brighter, and just a bit lighter as warmth spread out over their camp in the form of familiarity.

Smiling to himself, he took another bite of stew, letting the excited chatter of the tengu and Pidge wash over him.

It was then that he felt the familiar weight of Keith’s stare on his skin. He’d felt it through the day, catching it within a momentary heat before the kitsune would turn away. Something about the look was always searching, almost as if Keith was trying to pull the very truth from deep within Shiro.

At first, he had let it go, busying himself with other tasks to prepare for the crafting of the curse, but now he wanted nothing more than to talk with him. To tell him that he knows.

To tell him everything that he needed to say and that he was sure Keith needed to hear.

Looking up quickly, Shiro caught the flash of amethyst across the flickering flames, the gemstone stare dancing with the light of it as Keith held his gaze. A different kind of fire began to fill him, pushing itself across his lungs and burning itself deep into his core as he tried to remember how to breathe around the weight pressing into his chest.

“Are you okay?” Keith asked, shattering the moment with a voice laced with concern and something else entirely. It was caught between sorrow and hope, turning it syrupy as he took Shiro in. The inugami silently wondered if this was the look that Lance had mentioned. The one that he’d caught that screamed some kind of claim.

Swallowing around the feeling in his throat, Shiro nodded, carefully setting his bowl beside him in the dirt.

“I’m okay,” he said lowly, cutting a glance to the trio beside them to ensure they were still lost within their own happy conversation before turning back. “But I was wondering if we could talk.”

Keith’s ears glowed with the light of the fire as they flicked back as his eyes widened and his mouth opened around silent thoughts, the brief moment of emotion betraying his otherwise calm demeanor before his expression evened out.

“Yeah, okay,” he agreed easily, following suit and placing his plate onto the dirt. Mouth going dry, Shiro stood and made his way to the trees that stood around their camp like guardians. He didn’t bother to look back.

Shiro felt Keith’s presence behind him. Felt the sharp cut of his burning gaze as it marked the lines of his back, and felt the heat that rolled off him even from this distance. It would be so easy to turn around and reach out to the kitsune.

To grab the burning heat of everything that Keith was within his hand.

To let himself burn.

An oppressive and smothering feeling cascaded across the planes of his chest, reminding him of the heavy air before a storm as he finally halted, certain they were far enough away from the camp.

“I used to love the forest,” Keith started, not paying him any mind as he walked by, stopping only when he reached a tall oak just feet away from him. The moonlight that sliced through the leaves above pressed a pattern along the kitsune’s skin as he raised a careful hand, gently pressing it to the rough bark of the tree.

“It was my favorite place,” he continued, his voice almost breathless as if he could feel the very same weight that was threatening to crush Shiro. “I met my best friend in the forest.”

In the distance, Shiro hears the sound of laughter from their camp, but its lost on him to the deafening sound of the silence filling the woods.

“What happened to your best friend?” He heard himself ask, his voice rasping with effort. But he knew.

He knew what happened because the proof is branded into his skin, standing stark like a badge of honor.

“I loved him,” Keith said lowly, hand still pressed to the bark as if pulling strength from it.

“I lost him.”

The only other sound in the forest around them was the soft echo of Shiro’s own pained gasp as a shot tore through his chest with the words. Mired in Keith’s despair, they tore at him and left his nerves raw around the hole they’d left.

“Why didn’t you tell me the truth?” The question came unbidden, laced with hurt as he watched the strong lines of Keith’s back. Soft wind blew through the trees, shuffling Keith’s hair as bright lines of moonlight danced in its waves.

As the moment grew between them, Shiro felt it twisting in his chest as he waited for Keith’s answer. The answer to why he’d let him continue on as if they were nothing more than strangers.

Opening his mouth once more around his spiraling thoughts, anything he could have said was cut off by Keith’s words carried along the soft night breeze.

“I couldn’t.”

Turning slowly toward Shiro, Keith’s eyes shined.

“Shiro.” His name is a plea that breaks him completely. Closing the distance that stood between them, Shiro pulled Keith into his chest. Hair brushed the knuckles of his unmarred hand as he pulled his fingers through the hair at Keith’s nape in a soothing motion.

“I couldn’t save you,” he said, words falling like his tears that were soaking through the silk of Shiro’s top. They sounded broken, clipped at the edges as if fragments of shattered glass.

“And then you were there and you didn’t know. And I couldn’t—”

A sob interrupted his thought as he pulled away, turning his face up towards Shiro. Moonlight caught the edges of his tear lined eyes, turning them almost silver and coloring them with the very same light Shiro knew him to possess.

In the starlight, he was beautiful.

“I couldn’t tell you,” his gaze searched Shiro’s face for understanding before his voice dropped further into a barely there brush of sound.

“What if you didn’t love me anymore?”

The question caught him off guard, skewing his world on its axis as he looked down at the man within his arms. It had never occurred to him that Keith would question the strength of his devotion to him, because the very thought was unfathomable. Loving Keith had come to him as easily as breathing, and had been as certain as the seasons.

Across space, and time, and the deepest depths of darkness, Shiro would always love him.

Even if he’d forgotten, he’d always felt the pull of the something that had tied their souls together and finally led him home.

A flare erupted along the mark on his chest, startling him with its strength as he pulled his hand from Keith’s hair to carefully brush away the tracks left on his cheeks by his tears.

“Hey,” he soothed as he wiped away a crystalline droplet. “That wasn’t your fault. None of it was your fault.”

Hanging on his every word, Keith continued to look up at him, eyes wide and in them Shiro could see endless galaxies and the bright light of the future. Their future. Now that he had found him again, and now that he had remembered the truth, he wouldn’t let the curse take him.

It would have to try so much harder than that to take him away.

Leaning down, Shiro pressed his forehead against Keith’s, absentmindedly brushing at his cheek with his thumb as he breathed him in.

“I found you,” he said, those three words lifting the weight from his chest that he’d been carrying for far too long.

“You did,” Keith’s words tickled his skin as they danced across his lips. “You found me.”

Heat lightning fizzled and cracked in Shiro’s veins as he closed the distance between them, trapping their words behind a kiss. Starting slow and sweet, it ignited into a burning thing as he pressed forward, their knees knocking together as they took several steps, only stopping when Keith’s back hit the trunk of a tree. The air grew heavy around them as Keith dragged a burning line along his bottom lip before chasing it with teeth. It left Shiro gasping into the pressure as he felt Keith’s hands come up and twist into the hair that had grown at his nape.

Nails scratching at his scalp as he anchored himself, Shiro caught Keith’s moan as he dragged his palm down to the beating pulse in his neck.

A bright light turned the insides of his eyelids a glowing pink as he pulled away slightly, looking down at Keith just in time to see the slow fade of the light that had danced along the kitsune’s skin.

Not just any light, Keith’s light.

And it was the brightest he’d ever seen.

With kiss bitten lips quirking up at their edges, Keith looked up through his lashes as the last of the light left his stare a glowing purple as he pulled his hand away from Shiro’s nape. His fingers shook slightly as he brushed away a tear that Shiro hadn’t even known had fallen.

“I’ll protect you this time,” Keith says, filling the words with the weight of an oath as his fingers dragged heated lines over his skin.

“I’ll always protect you.”

***********


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The entire time I wrote this I had to remind myself that this thing is meant to be rated T for Teen. But uh, know that there was a saucier version of this that I may possibly explore one day as a one shot. Because, ya know, I can.

Bark bit into the skin of Shiro’s back where he pressed back into it, using it to hold him up between Keith’s weight that he held against his chest. He fit perfectly there as their breaths synced, falling in a steady rhythm as they sat together in the darkened forest. He’d since lost track of the time that passed as they’d talked into the night.

About nothing.

About everything.

“I never stopped looking,” Keith said under his breath, his head tipped back against Shiro’s shoulder and his eyes carefully shut against the moonlight that had shifted above them. “But the only time I could find you was in the darkness.”

A single shiver echoed through his back and pressed itself into Shiro’s sternum as he hugged the kitsune closer.

“I thought I’d lose you to that too,” he continued as Shiro nosed at his hair, nuzzling into the waves that fall at his temple. Warm jasmine and burning sandalwood filled his senses as his careful rumination earned him a pleasant hum.

“What is that place?” Shiro asked, his words caressing across Keith’s skin as the kitsune arched further back, exposing more of his neck as he moved down to his pulse point.

“The darkness?” Keith mused, his eyes still shut to the outside world as he felt his pulse jump beneath his lips. It sent his own crashing and ricocheting within him at a frenzied beat as he pressed a smile against its strong beat.

“I don’t know. When the curse rebound off your charm, it tethered you to Haggar, or at least part of you.”

A thoughtful pause took his words as Shiro continued his slow exploration. He knew he’d tracked every inch of Keith’s skin before, but there was something about returning to it now that made it feel wholly new. The very thought of Keith being his made his chest ache in a way that wasn’t altogether unpleasant. It was almost as if his skin couldn’t contain every emotion that made up his very being and made his heart continue beating.

“Only she knows what that place is,” Keith finally said moments later, voice quiet as the night as Shiro pressed a firm kiss to his throat before pulling away.

“And you still tried to protect me without even knowing where you were going?” He asked, unable to bite down on the smile that turned his lips upwards. The emotion that hooked itself into all his edges was something like pride, only brighter. It left his insides feeling hot and syrupy, like honey left out on the hottest summer day.

Violet flashed as Keith cracked an eye, looking sideways at him as he failed at hiding his own small grin.

“Don’t look so smug, Takashi,” he growled mockingly. “I told you I’d protect you.”

Feather soft and just as light, Keith began to trace absentminded shapes along the darkened skin of his arm as he dropped his head back against his shoulder once more. His fingertips shook slightly as they continued nonsensical tracks, giving way to his true thoughts that lay beneath the jest. Shiro didn’t need much else to know that they were mired in guilt and blame, all centered around the very arm that held Keith to him.

“You didn’t have to,” Shiro said, dropping all pretense from his voice. It caused a hitching pause in the line Keith was following over the raised veins beneath his skin.

“You would have done the same for me.” There wasn’t room for argument as Keith picked up where he left off with his thoughtless tracking, losing himself to his memories and the feel of Shiro’s curse cooled skin.

The inugami couldn’t even deny the truth of his words. In fact, he had done the same. The proof of that much lay just beneath Keith’s light touch. What’s more is he would do it again.

And again.

As many times as it would take.

“So what do you think?” Keith asked suddenly, changing the topic in the breadth of the pause Shiro had created.

“About what?”

Wisps of a breeze shifted through the trees, rustling the leaves above them and ruffling Keith’s hair, sending strands tickling the side of his face.

“Pidge.” It’s all Keith says, but it carries with it everything he truly meant. What he wanted to know was what Shiro thought about the curse.

About the purification.

About actually saving him.

“I don’t know,” Shiro said easily, honesty ringing in his words like silver. Keith’s fingertips continued their slow track along his skin, trailing his thoughts behind them. “It seems to good to be true.”

A hum rolled through them both as Keith nodded in agreement.

“What if it’s a trap?” Shiro rolled the words around, not truly looking for an answer as he let his thoughts fill the space around them. “What if they’re just trying to get to the Marmora.”

Another breeze twined itself through the trees, filling the forest with their quiet hush as they sat in contemplation.

“What if they’re just trying to get to you.”

Keith’s eyes are open now as he kept his gaze fixed upward. Light caught in his gaze as he traced the branches above.

“Then we fight,” he said up to the stars. The answer comes easily, as if there was never another option to begin with.

Maybe there never was.

Shiro sees that in the arching gleam of his smile. It’s a scythe in the moonlight that buries itself deep between his ribs.

“But what if they aren’t lying,” he continued as he turned the full power of his look to him. “What if they can really help you?”

Electricity lines Shiro’s bones and started to pick apart his insides as he stared down the barrel of Keith’s hardened gaze. What if, it said with perfect clarity.

What if.

_What if._

There was so much that could go wrong, but there was so much that could go right and every possibility waged a war within Shiro’s chest, pinned beneath the weight of gleaming amethyst.

Hunk and Lance could get hurt. Kolivan, and Regris, and all of the clan that had taken him in could get hurt.

Keith could get hurt.

It should be enough for him to say no. To say that there had to be another option than turning towards an enemy that could just as easily turn on them as they could help them. It was all just too easy, and Shiro didn’t have that kind of luck. He’d already expended it all by finding Keith.

But now, looking at the kitsune with his moonlit profile, all his edges gilded in silver and crafted from star fire, he wants to be selfish.

What Shiro wanted, was to be saved.

The conflict thrummed through his skull as Keith watched on quietly before he pulled away from Shiro’s hold. Settling himself on his knees before him, he placed a steady hand to the spot over his heart and the other over Shiro’s, right over the flowered mark. The very same mark that he now remembered stained Keith’s skin.

“I’m yours, Shiro,” he breathed, the carefully picked words hitting Shiro with the same strength of a monsoon. “And you’re mine. Whatever you decide, if you want to trust them or if you don’t, I’ll follow you.”

With eyes turned pliant, Keith pulled his hand from Shiro’s heart and moved it up his neck, the burn of his skin marking where the curse had spread.

In that moment, he had a single fleeting thought set to the cadence of the pulse that beat against Keith’s palm.

 _I want to live_.

Sandwiching the kitsune’s hand between his own against his skin, he held Keith’s gemstone gaze and nodded. It’s barely there, but it’s enough as it pushed a smile across his face that stopped time around him as he leaned in.

Brushing his smile along Shiro’s, there’s a moment of quiet calm before the inugami pushed further into the kiss with his own widened grin.

_I want to live._

***

Sunlight crested over the trees, blanketing the clearing in a golden glow as they made their return. An simple easiness had spread itself across his chest in the night, leaving him feeling light, the only thing keeping him grounded being the strong hold of Keith’s hand in his.

Loud voices greeted them as they saw Hunk and Pidge laughing at something Lance said, leaving the brunette looking disgruntled as he crossed his arms across his chest and pouted.

In that moment, it felt a lot like maybe everything would be alright.

It was a dangerous thought.

A dangerous hope that cracked his expression wide with a smile.

Shiro should have known it wouldn’t be that easy.

In an instant, everything changed.

Pain like heated knives cut themselves deep into the flesh of his arm, twisting in the muscle and pulling a cry from deep within his chest. Clutching at his shoulder, he fell to his knees as his chest seized with the pain.

“Shiro!” He heard in the distance, his name twisting with the sound of his pulse screaming in his ears. Darkness ate at the edges of his vision, corroding it as he fell to his side. Grinding his molars together, he tried to hold onto consciousness.

“Shiro!” He heard Keith shout, his voice a point of clarity that he reached for as his breath turned ragged. Moving into his line of vision, Shiro could see the way his brows pulled together in worry. Could see the way his mouth moved as the darkness fell around him.

 _I want to live_ , he thought desperately as the black stole the rest of his sight.

_Keith._

The kitsune’s name was his last thought as he found himself drowning in the darkness.

They were out of time.

****************************


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it really an ODM fic if someone doesn’t end up at death’s door? Mmmmmm, I don’t think so XD See y’all on the other side. PLEASE ALSO CRY WITH ME OVER KAI'S ARTWORK EVERY PIECE IS BETTER THAN THE LAST AND I'M IN PAAAAAIN. 
> 
>  
> 
> ~~also uh happy first episode of s7 day~~

_Color and pain swirled together, gather at the edges of Shiro’s vision and pushed him beneath the crashing waves of suffocating darkness. Muffled voices reached out to him there where he lay struggling just beneath the surface._

_They had been so close._

_He had finally found him._

_Shiro was finally going to be okay._

_Reaching out towards the rippling light that stood just out of his grasp, Shiro tried desperately to break out of the fever dream in a last attempt to prove that it wasn’t too late._

_That the pain that was shattering his bones and tearing him apart from the inside hadn’t won._

_But that wasn’t the truth._

_It had won the moment he’d been hit by that curse._

_Grappling with the dual agony of his broken heart and the blood that had turned to poison in his veins, Shiro tried once more to reach out to the light that dotted the darkness._

_Wrapping his hand around it, it felt heated as it pressed into his palm, scorching marks between the spaces of his fingers._

_“Shiro, it’s going to be okay,” the light rasped, the velvet sound of its voice caressing itself along his skin as he held on tighter to it. “Just hold on.”_

***

Keith had thought he’d become accustomed to the pain of his loss. The widened hole that it had left in his chest had become a barren thing that he’d learned to breathe around. But then Shiro had returned and he felt the first vestiges of something as the hole had begun to build and repair itself.

He wasn’t wholly himself, but he was there and Keith had thought that would have been enough.

Then, Shiro remembered.

And in remembering he’d further filled the hole, cementing it and making it stronger, allowing Keith to truly breathe for the first time in years.

He had been a fool to miss the cracks in the foundation that left them both vulnerable until it was too late and Shiro had collapsed beside him.

Now in its place was a raging black hole as he’d clutched to Shiro’s hand and called upon what light he could muster to beat back the roiling darkness of the curse that had worked itself up across the side of his face. As far as he could tell, it hadn’t done much by way of slowing it down, but Shiro was still alive, and right now, that was enough.

The journey back had passed in a blur, marked by long days, longer nights, and the group’s worry but they were finally back with the Blades.

Now, it was nothing more than a race against what little time they had left.

Now, all Keith could do was sit and wait as he let the fate of everything he loved in the hands of a kitsune he barely knew.

The room was silent, filled with nothing more than the faint sound of Shiro’s pained breath as Keith clutched at his hand, tethering himself to one fixed point. Kolivan had tried only once to move him from where he sat.

It had ended in a showing of teeth and a snarl that’d earned him a look tempered in utmost sorrow.

 _The pain of losing a mate is the worst pain our kind can suffer_ , Kolivan had told him once.

Keith hadn’t liked the reminder.

Time passed quietly around him as continued to clutch at Shiro, watching the slow spread of the darkness at it consumed Shiro before his eyes.

 _Not now_ , he thought as he pressed another palmful of light into Shiro’s skin.  _Not after I just got him back_.

Quiet footsteps pulled him gently from his reverie as he heard the soft hush of the door as it slid open, not bothering to turn around to see the addition to the room. He’d grown accustomed to the sound of Lance’s steps, if only so he knew when to leave.

But now, they were almost welcomed.

“How are things coming?” Keith asked glumly, eyes still fixated forward as he felt the tengu’s presence drew closer, pushing the dark stretch of his shadow across Shiro’s sleeping form. He didn’t have to clarify what he meant.

Lance’s hesitation was prominent, pressing a heavy weight into Keith’s shoulders as he awaited his answer.

“Nothing yet,” he finally said, carrying the statement on the back of his sigh. “Hunk is with Pidge now.”

The statement didn’t make much sense to him as he nodded in response, unsure of what else to say as his thoughts spiraled out around him. All he could hear was the steady cadence of three words as they beat themselves against the inside of his skull.

 _Out of time. Out of time. Out of time_.

“Hey man,” Lance said softly, placing his hand on Keith’s shoulder. “He’s going to be okay.”

The warmth of his palm matched with the quiet of his words felt like a peace offering set before him. Yet he still felt the sharp sting of annoyance as his shoulders tensed beneath Lance’s hand.

“I know he’s going to be okay,” Keith snapped, his teeth clicking together to trap the words too late. Shame ebbed through his chest as he felt Lance’s nails prick his skin for just a moment before he opened his hand into a soothing motion against his shoulder. The sharp tang of metallic blood filled his mouth as he bit into his lip.

“Sorry,” he muttered his apology, heat gathering in his cheeks as he kept his eyes trained on Shiro. Silence settled over them again as he timed his own breathes with the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

“No, I get it,” Lance finally said, breaking the pause as he let his hand slip away. “We’ve been traveling with him for awhile, you know.”

Another nod was all he managed as his vision turned hazy at the edges, still unwilling to look away from the cloth of Shiro’s top.

_Rise, and fall._

_In and out._

“He never stopped looking,” he continued, saying it like a secret.

Maybe it was.

“He always said he was looking for a cure, but I think he was really looking for you.”

Keith felt Lance’s gaze as it bore into him, as if trying to lift the very thoughts from his head. It made his ear twitch back as he nodded curtly, still avoiding the crystalline gaze that was cutting marks into his skin. The small movement was enough as the tengu spoke once more.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I don’t think he’d give up now.”

An electric jolt snapped across his sternum, sending his heart crashing around its cage as he finally looked up at the brunette. A soft smile curled across his mouth as he offered the kitsune the small piece of hope.

Opening his mouth in thanks, the words never came, stolen away by the sudden squeeze of Shiro’s hand. Lance’s eyes widened as he snapped his attention to the inugami, his own lips moving around silent words as Shiro called out in pain. Turning his own gaze to him, Keith watched as his back arched upward, sharp sounds of bone snapping along with the movement.

Sweat dotted his forehead as his eyes flicked beneath his eyelids as if he was caught in a fevered dream.

 _Out of time_ , his mind screamed as Keith found himself unable to look away.

“I’ll go get Pidge!” Lance’s voice was frenzied as he turned away from Shiro, quickly making his way out of the room.

But Keith knew better. There was no way he’d make it back in time.

Shiro was going to die before Lance could make it back.

Unless he came up with a plan.

A stupid, reckless plan.

Biting into the full of his lip, he pushed another wash of light into Shiro’s skin. It caused his eyelids to flutter as his brows pulled together, his face contorting around another wave of pain before his eyes flew open.

With the inky black that stained across his right eye, his newly golden iris stood out further as the left still stared up at him with its silver. Confusion muted his metallic stare before it slowly gave way to recognition, turning his eyes bright as his hand clutched tighter around Keith’s.

“Welcome back,” he said lowly, trying to swallow down the aching lump that filled his throat and made it hard to speak. Shiro’s lips twitched downward at the quiet hitch in his words, his fingers squeezing again around his own.

“Good to be back,” Shiro said slowly, his voice rasping from disuse, following his words with a dry cough that makes him grimace. It pulls from deep within his chest and sounds like it has all the same bite of brambles and gravel as spittle specked his lips.

“How are you feeling?” It’s a stupid question, but it’s the only one that Keith could think to ask as he watched Shiro’s eyes flutter again against some pain that he would never be able to understand. It chipped further away at the hole in his chest as he wrapped his free hand across the back of Shiro’s hand so that it was clasped between both.

“I feel like my arm is trying to kill me.” It’s said with a ghost of a smile as his dual colored gaze flicks down to their hands. “But what else is new?”

Keith is sure it’s supposed to be a joke. It isn’t a funny one though.

“Keith—” Shiro started, looking over the kitsune sadly as he was cut off by his quiet hush.

“You’re going to be okay.” He isn’t even entirely sure who he’s trying to convince with the reassurance.

It only serves to push a sad smile across Shiro’s face, it’s edges turned watery and dark with sorrow and truth.

“Keith,” he tried again. Reaching up slowly with his unmarked hand, Shiro brushed trembling fingers across his cheek in an almost timid caress. “I’m happy, you know.”

Eyebrows pulling up in silent question, Keith can’t help the look of confusion that turns his expression almost comical. It earned him a coughing laugh, the harsh sound flecking Shiro’s lips with bright garnet droplets.

“I’m happy I found you,” he said around the wet sound of his breath. Bright panic lit Keith’s nerves, tickling the inside of his skin as he heard the faint hints of a goodbye buried within the spaces of Shiro’s words.

“I’m happy I got to see you one last time.”

“This isn’t the last time,” Keith gritted between his teeth, turning each syllable sharp. It isn’t going to be.

He’d make sure of that.

Reaching out once more to the light, Keith searched for its warmth, only to be met by the sudden coolness of its absence.

 _Now isn’t the time_ , he thought impatiently as he continued to search, not missing the way Shiro’s eyes began to dim and grow distant as he continued to talk.

“I’d do it again,” he said slowly, echoing his sentiment from the forest. Shiro wasn’t even looking at him anymore as he turned his tarnished metal stare up to the ceiling. The grasp he had on Keith’s hand loosened with each slurred word.

“I’d die for you again.”

“I’m not letting you give up,” Keith hissed, desperation making the statement sharper than he meant as he continued to search for his light. A half formed planned pieced itself together haphazardly in his thoughts as he grasped at illuminated tendrils. They brushed across his fingertips, lighting them with a soft glow.

He knew what he had to to do, but he would need so much more.

Keith was going to perform a purification without the curse. It was a gamble, one that could easily result in both of their deaths, but he would need more. So much more than the barely there light tickling his skin.

He would need it all.

“Do you think it’s going to hurt?” Shiro’s voice was barely there, nothing more than his pained breaths carrying words as his hand went limp in Keith’s. The kitsune tried to ignore what he meant, but it darkens his thoughts, making the light within his hands flicker with it.

 _Death_.

He meant death.

Hot tears rolled down the flush of his cheeks and landed in untimed rhythm on their entwined hands.

“No,” Keith growled as he grasped tighter. Light fizzled and cracked between his fingertips like lightning during a storm, but it still wasn’t enough. With all his recklessness, he fought against the light, pulling it out into being as he ground his molars together.

It still wasn’t enough.

 _I need everything_.

“Stay with me,” he growled, tearing himself in two as he tried to hold onto the light and onto Shiro.

“Keith.” His name is a shuddering sound that breaks across Shiro’s lips. It’s a prayer.

It’s a last breath.

Keith watched as Shiro’s eyes fluttered once more, his teeth clenching around another roll of pain before the tension suddenly eased from his body and left him limp, as if in sleep. A sharp stab pierced just above his heart, right over his mate mark. It seared, twisting against the flowered mark before it suddenly dissipated, leaving nothing but an empty coolness.

“I’m not letting you go,” Keith cried, his voice shredding beneath the weight of his grief as it edged toward a roar in the otherwise silent room.

 _Help me get him back_ , his thoughts screamed as he pulled against the stubborn light. It snapped against him, roiling between its fingers as it began to heat against his skin.

 _Help me get him back_ , he tried again, his teeth grinding together as the light’s tethers bit into the meat of his fingers.

 _I won’t let him die_.

Warmth rolled across his arms as he screwed his eyes shut, grasping onto the light as it writhed against him. His hold tightened as he felt it coil around his wrists.

 _Help me_.

It started as a fizzling crack deep within his gut, turning his insides into a lightning storm that rocked against the cage of his ribs. The light burned brighter as it began to sting his fingertips, making him wince as the sharpness of the pain.

It’s more light than he’s ever managed, but it still isn’t enough.

“I’m not giving up on him!” Keith roared as he felt the light finally give. Fire burned within his palm as he was suddenly pushed away from Shiro. His skin is on fire as the light began to brand itself into it, the illumination starting as a formless glow that worked itself into the form of a blade.

Opening his eyes, Keith saw the way the light worked itself over his limbs and danced along the edge of his vision. He’s weightless with it as it rolls over him and brightens the room.

In that moment, he is light.

A light that is turning his insides to ash and blinding him, and yet all that he could see, was Shiro. He lay motionless before him in the bed, his untouched skin a ghastly white in comparison to the twisting black that had taken him.

 _Save him_ , a distant voice soothed in his ear as the blade seared further into his skin. It’s a pain he isn’t sure he’ll survive, but hope filled his chest with each ebbing wave of agony.

The light had finally listened.

 _Save him_.

Keith’s hand tightened around the hilt of the blade as it melted itself into his flesh.

He knew what he had to do.

With a sudden cry, Keith raised the blade, only hesitating for a moment before he plunged it deep within Shiro’s arm. There’s a pause as the light cleaved through the darkness with ease, the knife’s edge standing as a stark contrast against the cursed skin before it began to glow hotter and brighter.

The light grew, swallowing them both and stealing Keith’s vision as all else was bathed within the blinding white.

*******************

Art by [Kai](dyedgreyillusion.tumblr.com)! [Link to art!](http://runonthewind.tumblr.com/post/176141689125/for-the-sheithreversebang-its-done-ahaa-i-know)

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just be super sappy and sling some love towards Kai and Mal? Y’all were awesome partners and made my first bang experience a pretty good time. Also, big love to you, dearest readers, for giving this a chance! But uh, don’t expected anything of mine to ever update and finish this quickly ever again. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that I can’t sit on what I’ve written XD Anyway, without further ado, I hope this ending makes the ride worth it!
> 
> Read Mal's work [HERE!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15380745/chapters/35693622)

Death was oddly comforting. Nothing like the cold darkness that Shiro had always imagined it to be. Instead, it was warm. It lay across him like a heavy blanket, lulling him into a deep sense of safety that felt a lot like a pillowy bed. The flat black of it cradled him as it eased him into its feathery hold before it settled him into something that felt a lot like sleep.

A sleep that he could let himself float away in if it weren’t for the tether around his hand that seemed to anchor him.

Heat radiated from the point as it spilled across his palm and worked its way over his wrist.

 _Wake up, Shiro_ , it said, the voice sounding both foreign and altogether familiar. The heat coiled around his hand tighter, pulling him through the darkness towards it as it spoke.

 _Wake up_.

He knew that voice, didn’t he?

_Shiro._

A static hum of electricity grew at a center point just above his heart until it became almost painful, disrupting the quiet solitude of the death he’d thought he’d found. It threatened the very peace that had folded in around him, making it shake and tremble as bits and pieces of the dark began to fall away, exposing fine cracks of light.

 _Please, Shiro_.

Illumination bled out across the black, turning it a soft morning grey as the voice grew louder. Grew clearer.

 _Keith?_  His mouth moved around the silent syllable of his name as pain rippled across his chest. He had found him, hadn’t he?

And then—

And then he’d died, hadn’t he?

 _Shiro_ , Keith’s voice came through louder, cutting through the din of his thoughts as he felt the soft brush of fingertips against his cheek. An ache rolled along the lines of his ribcage as Shiro found himself fighting against the hold of the darkness to get to his voice.

He’d come so close. He couldn’t lose him again. Not so soon.

No like this.

 _Come back to me_.

Air burst into his lungs as pure white shattered the black as he gripped at the hand within his. Colors crested across his vision, mixing whites and reds and blacks and the deepest of purples in a swirl of blurred shapes. A quiet shush welcomed him as his mouth cracked wide around his gasps as his sight evened out, filling with nothing more than the bright light of Keith’s purple crystal eyes.

A vice-like hold wrapped itself through his fingers, the pressure of it almost painful until he realized that it was Keith’s hand.

“Hey,” the kitsune breathed, the greeting turned into silk as he looked over Shiro with a steady gaze. It was just a single word, but it sent his pulse racing through his body as his fingers tightened instinctively around Keith’s.

“Hi,” he returned, his own voice barely a whisper as he looked over Keith as if it were the first time. It felt like it could have been with the way his heart pounded against his sternum in tempo with the golden flicker of the lamplight that painted Keith’s skin with something warm. The weight of Keith’s stare pushed into his own flesh as he watched the kitsune look over him, his gaze pausing over his right arm momentarily before flashing back up to meet his stare.

Sorrow dampened the purple as his lips turned down. Pulling his own brows together, Shiro turned his eyes down to catch what had turned Keith’s expression sour.

Bright metal sat within Keith’s hand, running up from his grasp and over Shiro’s forearm. Light etched in lines through the strange metal, racing up to the ball of his shoulder, turning all that had been dulled and dead black into brilliant silver.

Moments passed before Shiro realized that it was his arm.

Awe filled him as he followed the lines, trying to make sense of the way they cut along the metallic surface, creating a beautiful pattern of geometric shapes in the place of the ill purple veins that had once been there. Squeezing Keith’s hand once more, he reveled in the feel of his skin against his metallic palm.

It didn’t make sense that he should be able to feel it as he did, but he did all the same and it left him breathless.

Keith had done it.

He had saved him.

“Keith,” Shiro started, tearing his stare from their joined hands in time to see the way he flinched as he misunderstood the sudden exclamation.

Turning away, Keith let his bangs fall as a shield between them as he looked down at the silver that crafted his new arm.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly, his cheeks coloring the quietest shade of pink as he drew a finger across the illuminated lines that cut through the silver.

“I’m so sorry,” Keith continued, keeping his eyes down as his ears flicked back, pressing into the black of his hair as he avoided Shiro’s gaze.

With his voice wrought with pain, the inugami felt a twinge in his chest as his heart cracked at the sound of it. He didn’t say what he was apologizing for, but he didn’t need to. Shiro could feel the slight tremble in his touch as he continued to run lines along his new limb.

Steadily, he pulled his arm from Keith’s grasp, slowly moving it before him before he placed his shining palm to the strong curve of his chin. Gently brushing his thumb across the crest of his cheek, he couldn’t help but admire the way the silver stood out against Keith’s tanned skin, its faint light casting a glow across his freckles and turning them to stars.

“You don’t have to be,” Shiro said, tone brushed with the same tenderness that filled his touch. Amethyst flared as Keith’s gaze snapped up, catching his as he smiled. Guiding him forward gently, he let his metallic fingers dip into the soft waves of Keith’s hair.

“You saved me,” he breathed, bumping their foreheads together. “And that’s nothing to be sorry for.”

Keith’s lips parted beneath his as he closed their distance. It spread warmth through his chest that eased itself out through his limbs as he put pressure into it, turning it from something chaste to something a bit more as his thumb continued to draw lines along the kitsune’s cheekbone. Catching the soft sound of his gasp between his teeth, Shiro held there just breathing him in as he lost his thoughts to the feel of Keith’s life beneath his hand.

He was was alive, and so was Keith, and though he knew their fight with the Galra was far from over, for now this was enough.

“Keith,” Shiro pushed the name between them, his lips moving with it as he brushed them along his mate’s. It earned him a soft keen as he felt fingers grip at the loose linen shirt he’d been put in, the needy pull of them dragging the curve of his smile higher.

“I love you, Takashi,” Keith hummed, sending the sentiment feathering across Shiro’s skin as he pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his grin. His ribs cracked against the expansion of his heart as it swelled, overwhelming him with the ferocity of expanding sun within his chest. It incinerated everything in its wake as it glowed within him, turning all else to dust as he tried to breathe around the gravity of it.

White glowed bright in the lines of his arm, casting shadows that caught along Keith’s edges where his hand met his skin.

“I love you,” he returned, each one of his words brushing along the darkened pink of Keith’s cupid bow. “Keith, I love you.”

Sealing his thoughts between them, Shiro kept his hold on Keith as he slowly moved back, settling his back into his pillows as he rested him against his chest, never once breaking their contact. Sighing contentedly, the kitsune melted against him as his petal soft lips opened and moved against his.

 _This is enough_ , he thought to himself as he heard his own content rumble deep within his chest.  _It’s everything I could ever need_.

The sharp sound of wood against wood snapped them apart, a thrill rushing through him as heat raced across his cheeks and down his neck. A sheepish look pulled across Keith’s face as he cut his eyes away, pulling back further.

“Shiro!” Lance’s voice shot through the quiet that had filled the room as he entered the room with Hunk and Pidge trailing behind him.

“Oh man, it’s good to see you up!” Hunk joined in, both tengu seemingly ignoring his and Keith’s position as the kitsune fully pulled away.

“How are you feeling?” Lance asked as he dropped into Keith’s abandoned seat. Cutting his gaze to the side to where the kitsune was making his way towards Pidge, he dropped his voice low, hiding it behind his hand as he leant in close.

“Keith didn’t mess you up with his purification did he? You can tell me if he did.”

“Lance,” Shiro sighed, his grin betraying his exasperated tone as he felt the foot of his bed dip beneath Hunk’s weight.

“I told you he knew what he was doing,” Hunk said, shaking his head at his friend before he turned his own attention to Shiro. “Though, it was pretty alarming to see him stabbing your arm like that.”

An exaggerated shiver ran down Hunk’s spine, earning him a laugh from Lance as Shiro looked toward Keith with widened eyes.

 _Later_ , he mouthed.  

“He wouldn’t have had to if I could have helped,” Pidge’s voice silenced the chatter of the room as four sets of eyes turned to them. Their mouth was set in a scowl as they kept their golden eyes fixed on the ground. Shiro watched as Keith put a reassuring hand on their shoulder, his fingers pressing gently into their skin.

“It all worked out, Pidge,” he said slowly as his thumb rubbed a circle into their arm.

“I’m okay,” Shiro added with his gaze fixed on the smaller tengu. “We’re all okay, and that’s what matters.”

Sniffling loudly, they looked up, their golden gaze turned to liquid behind a sheen of tears as they stepped further into the room. Offering a smile, Shiro nodded toward them in a show of his own reassurance.

Keith’s hand slipped from their shoulder as they took another step forward, running the back of their wrist across their eyes.

“Besides, you’re still way cooler than Keith,” Lance butted in, shrugging with the statement as a sharp smile curled into the corner of his mouth. The sound of a smack punctuated the air as Keith slapped the back of his head.

Pidge’s mouth opened around bright laughter as they fell onto the bed beside Hunk, rocking against him with their mirth.

Smiling over the their group, Shiro settled himself back as he watched Lance swat at Keith’s hand, and Hunk and Pidge as they giggled against each other while they watched the pair.

 _This_ , he rectified as he sank further into the down of his pillows, was everything he could ever need.

***********************

**Epilogue.**

In the months that passed, life returned to something close to normal. Pidge was welcomed into the Marmora clan, their knowledge of the Galra and Haggar’s magic earning them a position as an advisor to Kolivan as he began to craft their plan of attack. Hunk and Lance returned to Allura shortly after Shiro had awakened, leaving behind a promise to return quickly and with an alliance that would strengthen their numbers tenfold.

Keith had returned to his training, and now that his heart was back, he had harnessed the light’s power with singleminded focus.

And Shiro? 

Shiro was happy. Even with the heavy handed threat of war looming over them, he found himself hopelessly lost to the joy that constantly filled his veins, making him feel light as he lived day-to-day with his mate and their clan.

Breathing deeply, Shiro smiled up towards the sky as he broke through the line of the trees, his mind lost amongst his thoughts as he made his way into the clearing.

Keith would be done with his training soon, and until then, he would wait for him by their pond. It had always been a place they’d loved, but now it had quickly become his favorite as he found himself there more often than not as he worked on harnessing his own powers.

Settling down next to the water, Shiro folded his legs beneath him as he looked over the edge to see his own silvered gaze staring back up at him. Around it, was the painted colors of the sunset sky.

A smile that was nothing more than a gentle flick upwards wormed its way across Shiro’s lips as he placed a careful hand against the unmoving mirror surface of the pond, breaking apart his reflection. Barely there ripples crested from beneath it as he let out a slow breath, watching carefully as a ring of light flowed outwards from the point.

It wasn’t very bright, but it was there all the same as he concentrated on the tickle that buzzed just beneath the skin of his newly made palm. Another ripple flowed out across the pond, its light stronger as it grew outwards toward the edges of its confines. Shiro’s smile grew with it as he watched it race for the grassy edge opposite him like a slice of moonlight on a quickened crash course for the earth.

The trick was nothing more than a slight manipulation of the very light that gave his arm power, but there was something calming about the way that it twisted and moved with his touch. It left a warmth wrapping around the white metal arm that grounded it, leaving him feeling whole, as if it was always meant to be his.

Pushing just hard enough for the water to lap up around his nails, the light grew brighter as the ring eased itself from his palm, riding the waves of the ripple lazily as he watched.

“At this rate, you won’t even need me anymore,” Keith’s voice was painted in husking laughter as he broke Shiro from deep within his thoughts, dropping him back to reality and the edge of the pond. His eyes were bright, dancing with the dying illumination that rolled along the water’s surface as he dropped down beside Shiro.

Shiro’s own smile cracked, breaking into a fully formed crescent as he turned his attentions away from the water and toward Keith. In all this time, he still couldn’t help the way his heart stalled hopelessly whenever he found himself pinned beneath the kitsune’s stare.

He’d often found himself wondering if he ever would stop feeling the affects of Keith’s carefully crafted smiles, or the gentle brush of his fingertips, or the subtle hush of his breath against his skin during sleep. More often, he found himself praying that he wouldn’t.

Biting at the corner of his lip to keep his features from breaking beneath the weight of his happiness, Shiro reached his hand toward Keith fisting his fingers in the silk of his top. It earned him a wide eyed look as he laughed.

“Shut up,” he breathed before he yanked the kitsune forward, sealing the brightness of their future between them with a kiss.

*************

Art by Kai! [Link to art!](http://runonthewind.tumblr.com/post/176141689125/for-the-sheithreversebang-its-done-ahaa-i-know)

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Catch me cryin' into my keyboard over that final kiss, man.


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